Mythics
by Kat Laleh
Summary: Three teenagers must learn to control their second form of deadly mythilogical creatures, fight against the Controller who will sell them, battle with their past and do their homework for highschool! Can they survive? Finished!
1. Chapter 1 New School

Chapter1- New School

Isabel walked through the brightly lit corridors of Meyers high school, with a quick and rapid pace. From the corner of her eye she could see the chunks that were still missing out of the ceiling, said to be on the janitor's 'to-do list'. The floor was coated with grime, causing smudges to appear on her brand-new, first-day-of-school sandals. She caught a few people staring sidelong at her, and she barred her teeth at them, hissing like a snake. "Take a picture. It lasts longer."

They couldn't be entirely faulted for staring. She knew she didn't exactly look normal, but they could at least have the decency not to openly gape like a fish out of water. Her long thin body seemed to move with an unnatural liquid grace, and her chestnut brown curls swirled around her shoulders as if they had a mind of their own. But it was her eyes that caught the most attention. They were silvery gray, flashing in the light like reflectors. She was gorgeous, and dangerous.

Despite her best intentions, she could not remain oblivious as she fled from room to room in the brief four minute time they had to move. As the official new girl, the teachers had been lenient with her lateness, but she had no desire to enter after they had already started speaking. She could already feel their eyes glued upon her as she slid through the desks. Her heart skipped a beat as paranoia trickled into her conscious brain. They would know. They already suspected. Their was something about her that wasn't quite...human.

The bell (sounding more like a fire alarm) rang and Isabel cursed. She was still in the tunnel, the quickest route from the main stairs to the gym, but the walls were covered in windows. She could see her reflection in them, ever reminding her that she _wasn't_ what she tried so hard to pretend to be. Forgetting her lateness, she reached out to touch the cold glass. A voice behind her startled her to the present.

"Do you miss summer vacation that much?"

Her heart went double time. He couldn't look at her reflection; he would know! She circled around the boy so that his back was facing the window, and answered his question. "It's a furnace in here. I was hoping the window would be cold."

The boy was attractive, clearly someone in the 'in' crowd. "Take it while it lasts. Once winter comes, you'll be wearing gloves. What's your name?"

"Isabel Noctrice. I'm new here."

"Do you need help to your next class?"

She almost laughed out loud. Despite her seventeen years of age, her sense of direction was almost unfathomable to another's mind. She knew exactly where the gym was, what it's latitude and longitude was, and the exact amount of feet it was from the cafeteria. She was also confident in saying there was a bathroom right next to it, which would be dangerous. Too many mirrors. "No, I'm capable of walking by myself."

He grabbed her wrist between his fingers and tugged her down the hall. "I didn't say you couldn't. But you could use my company."

She made a face. _Pompous jerk,_ she thought, and wrenched her hand from his grasp. "I don't like being touched, and I meant what I said when I could find my way by myself."

"And I meant what I said when I should go with you. You don't know what this school is like." He did not remove his grip.

"I said let go!"

"No."

She could already feel her skin changing under his grip. Keeping her human form was usually easy, but physical contact always pushed the limits. In another few minutes, her hair would turn into snakes. She made a quick decision, and met his eyes with her cold gray ones. He gave a yelp and snapped his hand away. It had become cold and stiff, like stone. He flexed it a few times to regain the feeling.

"Bitch," he muttered under his breath, and continued down the tunnel, away from her.

Isabel looked down at her wrist, and watched as the skin he touched turned from a translucent green back to a normal human color. That had been close. Too close. While her gorgon blood wasn't nearly as potent as it could have been, being watered down by centuries' worth of Noctrices', it was still unmistakably _there_. She could take human form is she wished, and she was able to control her stone glares, but mirrors still revealed her snake hair and green tinted skin.

She continued down the tunnel, stroking each curl of her hair, and apologizing to the snakes that it hid. In a few moments, she was at the gym.

It was similar to the rest of the school in that the lights were too bright and the paint too old. Dried and hardened gum dotted the peeling bleachers, to be paired with the permanent marker messages of true love and true hate. It held musky, salty odor of closed rooms and heat. Isabel gave a shiver before she entered, moving through the groups of people bunched on the bleachers with boneless grace.

"Hello, Medusa," came a small voice to her side. Isabel turned, palms freezing with dread. How could anyone know her real name? The speaker was a petite female, with impossibly wide brown eyes. Her nose was as sharp as her chin, straight red hair combed back into a braid.

"What did you call me," Isabel asked, feigning casualty.

"I said, hello, Medusa." Her voice was strange, like an old ancient song that no one knew the words to. It lilted between them, calming Isabel's rapidly beating heart. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. Just stay away from the locker room. There are a lot of mirrors." The strange girl stepped away without another word, and was immediately lost among the throng of people.

Isabel looked down at her fingertips. They had started to turn green.

Raven Voight watched the gorgon from a distance. She wasn't sure at first, for her strange, liquid movements could come from dance training or an imprinted grace. But then she had seen her eyes. They were stone eyes for sure. Her real name was not Isabel; it was Medusa.

Despite the amount of people that had Mythic blood, only a few actually exhibited the traits of their benefactor. They had to be born on a day of power, Friday the thirteenth. Even then, they would appear human until their thirteenth birthday. Then the changes would start to happen.

Raven could still clearly remember the night of her thirteenth birthday. She had sat in bed, in brand new pajamas, with a brand new book, under a brand new blanket. She turned the pages methodically, loosing herself in the Greek mythology. The Odyssey. Ulysses journey home.

It took her a moment to realize how difficult it was becoming to turn the pages. Her fingers felt fragile and weak. Throwing back the coverlet she looked at her hands, to find they were gone. In their place was scarlet wings.

She ran to the mirror in panic, tripping over a chair and knocking down the pile of gifts she had gotten. Staring back at her from the mirror, eyes wide with fright, she saw herself. She was several inches shorter, and her bones felt light, almost non-existent. Weaved in her red hair, she could see scarlet feathers behind her ears and on the back of her neck.

Her wings were folded neatly at her sides, like a swan's as it rested in the water. She stretched them out carefully, and almost cried at what she saw. A six foot wingspan. No hands.

A sob escaped her throat, racking her chest in sorrow. She had to be dreaming. In a few minutes she would wake up, and all would be well again. She would not have feathers in her hair, or wings in place of arms. As she cried, the world cried with her. Rain began to pound the window, dogs and cats screeched and howled in anguish, and her parents found themselves bawling without a clue as to why.

She sobbed all through the night, but the moment the sun peaked over the horizon, she could feel her bones popping and groaning back into pace as they solidified, the feathers disappearing as if they had never been there.

The sound of the teacher calling the roll brought her back to present. "Raven Voight?"

"Here," Raven replied, absently. Her real name was not Raven; it was Siren. She could call someone to her with only her voice, get anyone to tell her anything, to do anything. All she had to do was sing.

Despite what was commonly said in Greek mythology, sirens were not hideous birds in their true form. Or at least, Raven wasn't. She looked mostly human, saving the wings and feathers in her hair. Her bones became hollow in that shape, making them perfect for flying. She took to wearing tank tops under all of her shirts, making it easy to take flight when the need arose.

Raven leaned her small body back onto a bleacher, trying not to wince as the wood dug into her back. She watched Medusa from afar. Now that she was actually looking, she couldn't see how she missed it before. Her curls moved as if they had a life of their own.

Raven produced a mirror from her purse, and directed the silvery surface toward the gorgon. In the mirror she saw what the girl really looked like. Like her own second form, it had been greatly exaggerated by centuries of retelling. Her skin had become slightly tinted with green, and the snakes the writhed in place of her hair were no doubt poisonous. She was not ugly, though. Quite the opposite. She looked real.

Raven quickly stashed the mirror when someone came up behind her. She gave a sigh of relief when she realized it was Minotaur, commonly known as David. He was a giant compared to her, with huge muscles and a thick neck. In his human form he was stronger than most. In his Mythic form, he was stronger than everyone.

"What do you make of her," he asked, gesturing to Medusa.

She handed him the mirror. "See for yourself."

They had discovered their second forms on the same day. Both had been traumatized, for without control of their powers, they turned into creatures they feared and despised when the sun sank below the hills. Whether object of fate or coincidence, they had taken refuge in the same forest on the third night. Raven was crying. David was tearing trees apart.

It had been a rough start for both. They feared themselves, so there was no reason to trust someone else, just like them. Especially when they were just as lost and confused. But Raven's voice had called for help, so that was exactly what he did.

Between the two of them, they collected enough research to find out what they were, and form an educated guess as to why. Friday the thirteenth. The thirteenth birthday. It really was an unlucky number.

After a few months, they learned how to control their second form at night. It was difficult, for secretly they wanted to have the freedom that their counterpart gave them. Raven was never happier then when flying, and while David's size was hard to get used to, his immeasurable strength made up for it.

Now, both at seventeen, neither had a closer friend. "So, there is another Mythic among us. Why are they all drawn here?" David's voice was deep and strong, never quite loosing the rumble it gained as a minotaur.

"Haven't a clue, but it seems too methodical to be coincidence. Let me see your schedule." David handed her the computer printout, and she compared it with her own. "We both have trig with Elias. Lovely."

"I talked to someone who had him first. He's giving notes on the first day, homework included." He took back his schedule and replaced it in his jeans pocket.

"Isn't there some law against that?"

"Apparently not. Listen, what are you doing tonight?"

Raven gave a silent groan. Whenever he said something like that, it meant that he wanted to fly somewhere. While flying herself was easy, his two hundred pound body caused a serious workout for her wings. "Sleeping," she said, hopefully.

"Cause I was thinking we could go see Medusa. You could find her easily from the air."

"Her name is Isabel. I heard Ron talking about her. Got all upset cause she wouldn't let him walk her to class."

He snorted. "Typical. Meet me tonight at my house. Will your parents be out tonight?"

"Yes." They had decided long ago that it would be better if their parents didn't know that they had unwittingly given them the genes of mythical creatures from stories and imagination. Raven's parents worked nights, so she was rarely in danger of being caught. It was more difficult for David, whose parents woke up when a mouse sneezed in New Hampshire. After a few times of trial and error, Raven found that her siren song could keep them asleep.

The bell rang, and they both went to their next class.


	2. chapter 2 Medusa

Chapter 2- Medusa

Author's note: Hey guys! Hope i'm not boring you yet. Reviews would be great. since its already all written- all the way to the end- the more reviews i get the faster i'll be with updates. if i don't think anyone is reading, it must be boring so i'll figure somethng else out. PEACE!

David paced nervously in his room. The clock read midnight, and it was becoming more and more difficult to hide his second shape. But he knew that changing in his room would be a bad thing. Not only was the room to small, but it was sure to wake up his parents. He swore as the minute hand ticked by. Where was Siren?

There came a tap at the window. Siren was balanced precariously on the sill, waiting for him to open the window. She did not have hands, and while her feet were slightly altered to compensate for landings, there was no way she could open the window.

David hurried to the window and opened it as quietly as he could. Through countless times of practice, he helped her through. She was graceful when in the air, but the wings were a hassle when on the ground.

"Close your ears," she said, softly. She knew the effect her voice had on people. As Siren, she could barely even talk without affecting a person's will.

David nodded, and a gestured to his ears. He already had them plugged.

Siren began the song of sleep. The notes rolled off her tongue as smooth and perfect as clouds. She didn't sing words, but the sounds were so expressive, filled with raw emotion, words were not needed. It took only a moment before she was satisfied that David's parents would not wake up until morning.

She tapped David's shoulder to tell him she was done, and they went down the stairs and out the door. The minute they were outside, David became Minotaur. He removed the ear plugs, for Siren's voice wasn't nearly as intoxicating to a fellow Mythic, and listened as she kept up a steady song to make them invisible.

"Did you find out where she lives," Minotaur asked. His voice became even deeper. His was a mostly human appearance, save the battering horns that sprouted from his forehead and the arms and legs that had become thicker with muscle, to compensate for his enormous body. Compared to Siren's four foot height, he was a giant.

She nodded, so not to break the song, and pointed in the right direction. Her feet were already beginning to ache from walking. No shoes could cover her feet in this shape, but the rocks that dug into her soles hardly phased her. The skin was thick and callused, allowing nothing to permeate it. The problem was that her feet were designed to perch on branches and withstand hard landings, not walking on flat sidewalks.

Minotaur had to repeatedly catch Siren as she tripped over a raised slab of sidewalk or loose stones. He knew better than to offer to carry her. Although her fifty pound body would be next to nothing for him, she refused to allow him to do it. She insisted that as long as she had feet, she could walk.

It did not take long for them to get to Isabel Noctrice's house.

"She lives in a mansion! A _mansion_! I didn't even know Wilkes-Barre _had_ mansions."

Siren was about to comment that it wasn't a mansion, just a large house, when she remembered she was still singing the song. While there was no one on the street, one couldn't be too careful. She sufficed to simply rolling her eyes.

"How am I going to get up there?" Minotaur asked.

Siren surveyed the ledge. She could balance on it easily, but it was just large enough for her friend. She beckoned to the refuge of bushes, and stopped the song, waiting as the last of the power ebbed away, like water in her hands. "I'll fly up there and have her open the window, then I'll come back down to get you. Now, give me a lift. It's dead air here."

He obeyed, tossing her in the air as if she were no more than a baseball. She unfurled her wings as she came down, allowing them to catch the air and get her airborne. Her feet scrambled for the ledge, pulling the rest of her body up. She tapped it a few times, pressing her nose against the glass to look for any movement. Medusa was sleeping.

_Open the window, you lazy snake,_ she thought, and increased the force of her taps. After kicking the window to no avail, she let out an ear piercing shriek that caused Minotaur to yelp and block his ears, and made Medusa sit upright in bed. She hastened to the window.

"Who are you and what- oh my." She suddenly noticed the strange figure balancing precariously on her roof was not human. "Siren," she breathed, softly.

"Minotaur is down there. Open the window wider so I can bring him up."

Only pure shock prevented Medusa from running away. She stretched the glass as high as it would go, then stepped out of the way to allow the other two Mythics to enter. It seemed they had the dual flying trick mastered from experience. Minotaur would wrap his arms around Siren's waist, and jump as high as possible. She would then open her wings as soon as possible, giving Minotaur an extra few seconds to grapple for the window sill with his oddly shaped feet. Then he would help her slide through the window, the wings becoming a hassle without hands to guide them.

An awkward silence stretched between the three as each took in the other's appearance. Medusa was in shock at Minotaur's sheer size; he could pick her up and throw her through the wall without much effort. Siren was transfixed on the dozens of snakes that writhed in panic on Medusa's head, picking up on the fear and apprehension in the room. Medusa absently stuck her hand amongst them, calming them with her touch. Siren gave a shudder.

"So- there are more of us," Medusa began, tentatively.

"Well, besides us two, and now you, that's all we have ever met," Minotaur said. "Those snakes aren't...uh...poisonous, are they?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, but they only bite if I ask them."

"That's reassuring," he replied, dryly. "And what about turning us to stone?"

"I could if I want, but contrary to common belief, us gorgons can control our stone glares." She quirked her head to the side, a smile tweaking her green lips. "You would look good in limestone, though. Maybe topaz. And you," she turned to address Siren. "would probably be garnet, or ruby." She closed her eyes, her tongue flicking across her lips as she imagined the rush of power that would run from her eyes, and the taste of stone sliding from her mouth. It would be invisible at first, but her eye contact would direct it were to solidify. Delicious.

"So, you can control what stone you create?"

"Of course. My great grandmother is also a Mythic. She taught me everything I know, but she can only make granite." She made a face. "Disgusting rock. Horrible flavor."

Both decided not to question further on her strange response. "Can you still give the stone glares in your human form?" Siren asked.

"Sure, but it's not as powerful. Wears off in a couple hours, and I couldn't do it to another Mythic." She edged closer to Minotaur, who backed up with a slightly apologetic look. He did not like snakes. She grinned at his reaction. "What about you two. I never met another Mystic, beside of course a gorgon."

Siren stretched her wings a moment, the scarlet feathers glinting gold in the faint light. "My power is my voice. If you were human right now, just by speaking I could drive you insane. As it is, it takes an actual song to control your will. I can have the songs of power as a human, but it only works on other humans." She shrugged, the feathers rustling as she did so. "I can fly, too, but it gets irritating to not have hands or proper feet."

"I have strength and speed. Convenient, but it has its cons."

Medusa nodded, knowingly. The snakes in her hair were her nuisance. Although they usually did what she asked them, they were each guilty of snatching a stray bird or lone mouse. They didn't need to eat, getting enough nourishment from her own body, but they still enjoyed hunting. Unfortunately, digesting it was an extremely unpleasant process for her, giving her headaches and nausea for days afterwards. Once, they had all decided to have a snack of crickets as she lay in the grass, and she had vomited for three days afterwards. She tried to stay away from anything that would tempt them in this form.

"And the thing with mirrors. Can you see your second form in them?"

Minotaur and Siren nodded in unison. "It's not so bad for me. As long as I wear long coats, no one can see my wings. Minotaur has a harder time."

"I suppose it's not too easy for you, either," he added.

Medusa's defensive nature kicked in. "What was that supposed to mean?" The snakes on her head hissed with anger, and one made a lunge for him. Minotaur had already backed up.

"Nothing," he replied, quickly. Despite his enormous size, Minotaur had an extremely peaceful nature.

She advanced on him, backing him into the corner. "You better hope it was nothing." A part of her knew she was not being reasonable in the least, and his comment had been made from pure ignorance. The other half of her, the hardened half that was now lashing out, was still vulnerable from the lies she had told and had been told. These two clearly never had to fight for who they were, what they were born to. She had been running ever since her thirteenth birthday.

She took a few more steps to Minotaur. Her eyes as a gorgon were not very dependable, she used her sense of smell and taste more, but she could still see the smooth ripple of his muscles beneath his tautly stretched shirt. She met his deep black eyes with her own stone gray, and her lips parted slightly as invisible liquid stone slid off her tongue. Topaz- it tasted sweet and rich, like coffee with flavored milk. _To him,_ she directed the stone. _Let him learn what life is really like._

The feather's on the back of Siren's neck bristled as Medusa caught her friend with a glare. Poor Minotaur did not dare strike Medusa, for the snakes that writhed on her head looked no less than terrifying. Knowing it was her only choice, but feeling less than dirt to do so, Siren piped a few notes of warning. Medusa stopped suddenly, and stared at her with horror in her eyes. It took a few moment's for her to regain the use of her mouth, but when she did, no praise escaped it. "I think it is time for you to leave," she whispered, the snakes gnashing their teeth at the pair. It was all fun and games for the turkey to talk about controlling other's free will, but to actually do it. That was a reality check.

Siren looked to Minotaur, who nodded his agreement. "Alright, we're going," she said, dejectedly. "But maybe you should brush that chip off your shoulders. Its not at all attractive."

Medusa hissed. "You don't know anything about me, Siren."

"You're right. I don't. Be grateful for that."

"Siren, come on," Minotaur said, resting an enormous hand on her shoulder.

"I trust you can see yourself out, or do you force me to batter you in flour and throw you in a pan," Medusa snapped at the winged girl.

Siren shrieked so loud, it caused both Minotaur and Medusa to claw at their ears in pain, and the dresser mirror to fracture into countless shards. "Rotten garden snake!"

"Miserable turkey!"

Minotaur had put the ear plugs he had worn earlier that night in his pocket, and they were now wedged in his ears to block out Siren's song. Medusa's eyes flashed dangerously, and Siren was filling her lungs to belt out another song. He hastened between the two, and as gently and quickly as possible, pushed Medusa to break her concentration. Unfortunately, though he exerted little strength, it sent her into the next wall. Knowing he would have to live up to that stunt later, he grabbed Siren around the waist and tossed her easily out the window. She unfurled her wings to slow her landing, then came back up to help him out. By the time Medusa figured out which side of the room was up, the two were already gone.

"Dirty rotten pig," she said, speaking more of Siren than of Minotaur. The snakes on her head hissed in agreement.

"What was that about!" Minotaur screamed, uncharacteristically losing his temper at his best friend.

Siren, also uncharacteristically, was perched on Minotur's shoulder, too annoyed to be further bothered by her aching feet. "Well, if you desire to be turned into stone then I won't stop that snake next time."

"Not that. After, when you two started fighting. What do you have against her?"

"Maybe that whole 'the-world-is-out-to-get-me-and-you-don't-understand-because-I-won't-let-you-so-now-I'm -going-to-turn-you-into-stone' attitude. I don't care what she has going on. It would not be fun for me to talk to a topaz statue on the phone."

"Whatever. You should make up with her. She's one of us."

"No, she's not. Just because she's a Mythic doesn't mean I have to like her."

Minotaur laughed, bemused. "You're acting like a mother eagle protecting her nest. I guess Medusa is the snake."

She was saved from replying by a hand he placed over her mouth. She decided to forgive her best friend, but not the snake who had caused the fight in the first place.


	3. Chapter 3 Dance Class

Chapter 3- Dance Class

Author's Note: This chapter is for the fellow dancers, bunheads or no, who can truly appreciate the agony of doing thirtrty two fouettes en pointe! here's to those who practice the silent poetry of dance!

As Isabel entered her study hall, she did her best to stay unnoticed. Unfortunately, after last night's explosion, it was like trying to hide a flamingo amongst a pen of chickens. The boy she had put down the day before, Ron was his name, looked over his shoulder and met her eyes. This would be a long fifty-five minutes.

Deliberately, she sat at the far side of the room, away from him, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on the chalkboard ahead. Not taking the hint, he stood up and took a seat next to her.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," he started.

Isabel opened a notebook and began to darken the blue lines with a black pen. "I think we did to, so why disrupt a perfect routine?" Her pen began to dry out, so she shook it a few times to push the ink to the top, then continued to darken the lines.

"Well, I was thinking I was probably an ass-"

"Wow, really? I wouldn't have guessed."

"And I wanted to try to make it up to you."

She laughed out loud, and carefully placed the pen on her notebook. "I've tried being physically cruel, mentally insulting, and sarcastic. Now, its time for me to be direct. I don't want your friendship, nor do I want anyone else's in this damn school. The only thing I want is for you to leave me alone."

"Yeah, whatever," Ron said, extremely put out. He reclaimed his seat on the other side of the room.

"Cold. Very cold." She knew that voice. It sounded slightly different in the human form, but it was none other than Minotaur.

"I don't want to talk to you, Minotaur."

"Actually, I'm David, now. David Connor. Pleasure to meet you."

"I'd like to say the pleasure is all mine, but then I would be lying."

"Are you always this pleasant?"

"Are you always this annoying?"

"Why are you so defensive?"

"Why do you want to know?"

David shook his head, knowing it would be a while before she would answer his questions. He would have to be sure to ask them in view of other people. As long as she was in her human form, he would still be a living breathing person. He wanted to keep it that way. "Alright, maybe we got off on the wrong start."

"Where you taking notes on Ron's speech? Need I remind you how well that turned out."

"Alright, so you don't want to talk about yourself."

"So you've noticed?"

"I can deal with that." He didn't mention that when it came to patience, he all but held the world record. He knew that he would never get Isabel to open up if he got as annoyed as he wanted to be. He just had to wait her out. _Raven's going to kill me,_ he thought. It did not help matters much that she possessed the power to do so with little effort.

"Why are you still here?"

"Maybe because I enjoy talking to you," David suggested innocently.

"You enjoy be being dissed?"

"No, not really." He wasn't gaining any ground this way. "Well, what's your last name?"

"I conveniently forgot."

"How can you forget your last name?"

"What can I say. I'm just gifted like that."

Raven's voice suddenly popped in his head, saying "Gifted in stupidity, maybe." but he clenched his jaw to stop the comment from coming out. Instead, he decided to count his blessings and quit with the remainder of his dignity. "Okay, maybe you don't want to talk now. I'll try again later."

He got up, moving passed the oblivious study hall teacher he had unwittingly made a fool of. This really wasn't his study hall, but he had seen Isabel enter, and couldn't resist the opportunity to talk to her. Now, it was back to trig, with an excuse of having to make a bathroom trip. A rather long bathroom trip, with a detour to the locker, perhaps. A weak excuse, but passable enough for a sixty year old teacher on the brink of Alzheimer's.

"Hey, David," Isabel shouted, surprising both herself and him. "It's Noctrice."

"Pardon?"

"My last name is Noctrice."

"Guess your not as good as you thought," David mused out loud.

Isabel smirked. She found David painfully interesting, despite his unfortunate friendship with the turkey. Despite his enormous size and strength, the proof of which was now residing on her back in the form of a large purple bruise, he was a calm and patient person. "You have no idea, David Connor. You have absolutely no idea."

Of course Raven found out. How could she not find out? Nothing could ever be slipped past her. As David slunk into his third period trig class, her eyes caught his in a intuitive, questioning stare. Her brown eyes as good as screamed, _been busy, I see._

He shot her a _what do you want from me,_ look, and took his seat by her. She was already scribbling a note to him.

In less than a second, she had pushed the scrap of paper onto his desk, and David unfolded it dutifully. "What did the snake say?" it ready in her sloppy scrawl.

He scribbled back that he just made introductions like a normal person, in which Raven responded in an indignant cry loud enough to stop the class a moment.

"Miss Voight, what is it that you find interesting enough to halt my lesson," the teacher, Mr. Elias, asked.

"Nothing, sir. Sorry." She didn't even wait for him to turn his back to start writing a furious reply. "What! That's what we did last night and she tried to turn you to stone!"

David drew a doodle of a man crying rivers of tears, complete with a boat for the man to reside on. Below it he wrote the lyrics to the song _Clementine._ "You are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry Clementine."

Raven replied with a large blackened question mark, followed by an exclamation point. She had also scribbled a moustache on the crying man's face, matched by a satanic beard and eyebrows.

"Don't get all bitchy on me. I just meant that its probably fate that brought her here, and fate that says we're bound to have to work together eventually. Dreadful sorry." he wrote back.

"Alright, alright. I forgive you but not her. BTW, I need a ride to dance today. My car's still in the shop."

David's reply was another doodle, this time of himself in a train conductors hat, in front of what looked like an old coal furnace. "All aboard." was written neatly below it. Raven assumed that meant yes.

At five o clock that evening, Raven was ready for dance. Since the summer had not yet let go of its grasp upon the weather, it was still very warm. All the same, she wore a tight fitting sweater over her tank bodysuit, and would leave it on, even when it began to stick to her back with sweat and heat. The walls of the studio were characteristically covered with mirrors, mirrors that would show her other form. By wearing the long sleeves, she could hide her wings, and though many people commented on how much shorter she looked in the mirror, she always said that the mirrors were just faulty.

David pulled up to the curb, and beckoned Raven to the car. He wore a hat as a precaution. Although he usually didn't go into the studio after his friend, there came an occasional occurrence when it happened. It never hurt to be careful. "Hola, amigo. Como estas?"

"Bastante bien, gracias. Pero, no es contenta con tu. Sabes por que?"

"Wait a second. My Spanish isn't that good."

"I said I was pretty good but I'm not happy with you, and do you know why."

"I know, I'm late. Llegamos a la clase de bailar tarde. Lo siento."

"Se nathe. Vamanos rapido."

David switched the gears on the car, and pulled away from the sidewalk. "Si, senorita."

Raven changed out of her shorts in the car, and put her ballet skirt over the leotard. She had just laced her pointe shoes over her tights when David killed the engine of the car, outside the dance studio. Her fellow dancers often joked that when it came to the school's location, it couldn't have been better placed. A convenience store resided down the sidewalk, next to a video rental shop. Across the parking lot where several restaurants, varying from fast food to casual dining. And to top it all off, a fabric store, clothes shop and grocery store stood another five minutes walk away. If ever one came without a costume, or on an empty stomach, improvisation tools were little more than a walk away.

She ran through the narrow hall to her class, and dumped her bag in a corner before subtly trying to join her classmates in a steady round of warm-ups.

"You're late," Miss Elisabeth said.

"I know. I couldn't get a ride."

"Just make sure you're warmed up."

Raven nodded, and threw one leg on the barre, leaning on it until she felt her hamstring resist. She chanced a look at herself in the mirror. The scarlet red of her wingtips could still be seen, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She counted the number of students via the mirror, and frowned when she saw there was one more than usual. She counted again, and was sure of it. "Miss Elisabeth, do we have a make-up student today?"

"Well, if you were here when the class started, you would know we have a new student. Her name is Isabel Noctrice. Isabel, wave so Raven can see you."

Raven wasn't listening. Her gaze was transfixed in horror on the long slender frame of the new student. Her hair was tied in a tight bun, and a bandanna was wrapped firmly around her head. She looked at the mirror, and saw the cloth moving, as if with a will of its own. Isabel caught her glance through the silvery glass, and flashed a savage smile.

_Oh, no you don't,_ Raven thought. _You're on my turf now. _She made sure she was warmed up, exercising her feet and back just for good luck. Then she asked the question. "Miss Elisabeth, can we have a fouette competition."

Such 'dance-off's' (as they were fondly called among the students), were common in the studio. It would consist of two people doing a repeated combination faster and faster until one person missed a beat. Then the winners would compete with the winners, who would compete with the winners until there was one person left. She would be announced MVD for the day, or Most Valuable Dancer. When it came to fouettes, in which the dancer would turn a single or double spin on one foot, then land and shoot their leg out to get them around again, Raven was undefeated. It satisfied her even more that this would be en pointe, which meant an extra inch of shoe the dancer had to get up on. It would make it more difficult for tall snakes such as Isabel.

"That's a wonderful idea. Count off in two's."

The first three rounds Raven completed with ease, and as she watched Isabel, she knew it was just as simple for her. Soon, it was only the two Mythics remaining.

"I think I'm sensing some animosity from you, Siren," Isabel said as she sunk into a preparation. "It seems like you don't want me here."

"How did you guess?"

Miss Elisabeth counted them in, and both started with a flawless double pirouette. _Land, not too hard, swing the leg, and pop back up. There's one. Two, three, four..._ They passed fifteen, a record for anyone in their class. Raven's calves were beginning to burn, and she was at risk of losing her spot and getting dizzy. Isabel was suffering a similar fate.

_Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four..._

Raven chanced a look at her opponent. She was still going. Well, if that was how she wanted to be.

_Thirty, thirty one, thirty two... I can do a swan lead, now. Thirty-three, thirty four... just don't think about you're calves... thirty-five, thirty six... is she giving up yet... thirty seven... nope, still going..._

And then, Isabel made the dumbest mistake. For one fouette, she didn't go up on her toes, thinking that it would ease the pain in her calf. It did the exact opposite, allowing her to fully respect the torture she was putting them through. She toppled over as her leg seized completely.

Raven had enough momentum, that she pulled her last turn into a triple pirouette, and then toppled the same as her competitor. She had won. Forty one fouettes en pointe. That was something for the record books. It didn't matter that her supporting leg was now beyond agony, and there was what felt like a vise constricting her lungs. She was the winner.

She laid back, chest heaving and sweat dripping off her neck and hair. Her ears where ringing. No, they weren't ringing. It was...

"That was amazing! I've never seen someone do so many fouettes. Congratulations to both of you." That was Miss Elisabeth. She was speaking over a substantial applause.

"Glad- you- enjoyed-it," Isabel panted, her voice hardly audible as she clutched her chest. She was in a similar position as Raven, lying with her back on the floor, remembering how to breathe. If she could only regain the use of her lungs, she could concentrate on the monster that seemed to be eating her leg.

"Congratulate your peers. They both just made the lead for my new ballet. Brush up on your Greek mythology. Isabel is playing Medusa, and Raven will be playing Siren."

Neither of them could believe at the aptitude of which she had chosen the parts.

"Get up and get a drink. You can have a ten minute break."

Isabel turned her head to Raven. She seemed no more thrilled of the prospect then she was. When she tried to move, to guzzle from the water bottle that was calling her name outside, she found herself immobile. Raven had a similar strained look on her face.

"What are you waiting for? Get off the floor!"

Raven clearly wasn't going to say it. It was up to Isabel to swallow her pride. "We can't get up!"

The class burst into hysterical laughter. When the two Mythics tried to join, they were left short of breath once more. _When will I learn_, Isabel thought, fingering the bandana on her head.

_I'm such an idiot_, Raven mused at the same time.

Three hours later, David checked his watch as he stood outside of the studio, waiting for Raven to arrive. In a paper bag he held was a large order of cheese fries, which was currently serving as his dinner. An extra long, greasy, cheese soaked potato slice caught his eye, and he pulled it out from the surrounding mass, stuffing it in his mouth all at once.

The door opened, and David suddenly choked on the extra long, greasy, cheese soaked fry he has just eaten. There was Raven, her sweater sticking to her as was her red hair. At her side was none other than Isabel, with a powder blue bandana wrapped around her head. They walked arm in arm, as if they had been friends for years. In a moment's time he would learn that they only leaned on each other because they couldn't walk by themselves, and the only reason Isabel would enter his car in the first place was because she was too tired to walk home. All the same, he couldn't help but be incredulous. Dance, it seemed, had once again proven to bring people together, even when those two people happened to be a snake and a bird who loathed the other's form entirely.


	4. chapter 4 bad dreams bad memories

Chapter 4- Bad Dreams, Bad Memories

Authors note: me again! its finally getting to the good stuff! for those who have beared with me, thanx, for those who havent, start reading already. thats all the updates i'll put for now, till i get some more reviews. hint hint wink wink

It was very late, so late that it was in fact early. The moon was full, casting silvery beams atop the soft clouds. Siren flapped her wings harder, her chest heaving to suck oxygen from the thin air. She chanced a look behind her, and could still see that horrible bird-like creature following her. It was like nothing she had ever seen before, like a mix of a dragon and a an eagle. It had great, leathery wings and a fierce hooked beak. Even in the dim light she could see its narrowed amber eyes, the slit pupils now focused on her.

Siren tried to breathe a song, but her lungs were beyond oxygen starved. She could barely get enough air to feed her tired wings, let alone sing. One note. She just needed one note. She opened her mouth, but all that came out was a breathy gasp.

The creature was quickly gaining on her. It did not take a Mythic to realize it's intentions were not good. _I need to get lower,_ she thought. She brought her wings closer to her body, and tipped forward in a dive. The clouds were cold and wet on her face, but she quickly flew below them. Faster and faster, she could still hear the creature behind her, easily matching her speed. She inhaled again and again, testing the air for the oxygen it needed to sustain her. Just a little farther down and she would have enough for a song. A song of death. A song of fire. That thing would not stop hunting her until she was dead or it was.

Finally! Her starved lungs sucked in a true sweet breath of air. She turned in mid air, open mouthed, already letting the first notes fly. Her eyes met open talons adorned with thick black claws. In a panic, she slurred the music faster, willing herself not to turn and flee or the spell wouldn't hit its mark. Just a few more seconds and it would be complete.

The talons came closer, allowing her to see the razor sharp glitter of its claws. It slashed once, slicing with the utmost accuracy across Siren's throat. The song was abruptly halted as she gagged in pain. Blood gushed down her pale skin, staining her feathers a darker red. She tried to scream, to cry... _anything, _but all that came from her mouth was a choked gasp. She couldn't sing!

The creature reached out once more, this time cutting twin lines on her wings, snapping the major tendon in half. Before she registered the pain, the excruciating, unrelenting agony as she kept trying to keep herself airborne, she felt fear. She could taste it, smell it, feel it... a rank, bitter sense that made her skin shiver. And then she was falling, careening through the starry night as her own crimson blood dripped around her.

The creature watched on, heartlessly. Before the Mythic hit the ground, it flapped its enormous wings, and flew deep into the night.

Raven screamed as she woke up, clutching her throat in panic. She kept screaming, kept crying, not understanding why she could still hear her voice when that horrible creature had taken it from her. Her blankets were twisted tightly around her legs, making her envision snakes that would come to devour her cries. She kicked them off in a panic, and fell to the floor, shaking and bawling into the thick carpet. Her voice! It had taken her voice!

She wanted to run into her parents room, and nestle between them, listening as they told her it was alright and that she was safe. But even that held no sanctuary for her, for they didn't know. They couldn't understand.

She closed her eyes, and willed herself to relax, trying to reclaim her composure. She needed to talk to David, for he was the only one who would truly understand, but it was late, and she would need to fly. At the window ledge, she gazed out into the moonless night. No. There was no way she would fly.

She smoothed out her blankets, and cocooned herself in their depths. Despite the warm September night, she was freezing. She thought of her parents, sleeping down the hall, oblivious of her terrified state. Then she thought of David, whom she had never failed to tell anything. _He doesn't need to know about this. Some secrets are meant to be kept. _

Isabel woke up that morning with a start, then quickly changed into her human form before anyone could enter her room. It was getting harder and harder to keep her human form at night. She usually changed by the time the dawn arrived. The thought scared her, for she did not want to know what would happen if they found her here. Isabel Noctrice could not hide forever.

Unlucky thirteen. Friday the thirteenth. Thirteenth birthday. Thirteen years. Thirteen was when Isabel had died, and Medusa had been born. It was the thirteenth day of the month when snakes had taken the place of her hair. It was at the thirteenth hour of the day that Isabel had sought refuge from her plight from the only two she thought could help her. Her parents.

Isabel wrenched her thoughts out of the past before she tread upon the memory once more. She did not want to look at the two people she lived with and call them Mom and Dad. They weren't. They were adoptive parents who took her in when her real parents had died. She had killed them.

Stone glares were a potent talent, she later learned. She would keep sun glasses on, even inside, even in the dark, until she learned to get it right. That night, she walked into her parents room and looked into their eyes. They were suddenly immortalized in pure white crystal, their eyes hard and glazed as ice. They would stay immobile for all eternity. The power didn't wear off when she was in her Mythic form.

Isabel shamefully wiped a few tears from her cold gray eyes, then proceeded to brush her hair and change her clothes. This place would do for now, but they would find her soon. Hopefully, the prospect of having two other Mythics close by would benefit her own get away. Hopefully.

She walked down the stairs carefully. It was not even dawn yet, but she rose early from habit. In her opinion, it was the safest hour of the day, when the shadows of night were not quite as menacing, and the harsh reality of light was not quite as cruel. It was middle ground. Gray. Perfect. Nothing could go wrong in the pre-sunrise hours.

The night had been warm, so she wore a tank top and loose pants. Her curly hair was tied haphazardly back, brushing her bare neck, reminding her of the snakes the chestnut locks hid. She rested her chin on her knees, sitting on the back porch and watching the sun begin to cast it's first rays along the distant Adirondack Mountains. Whoever had owned this house previously had paid a meticulous amount of attention to their yard and garden. Each tree was trimmed, each garden fenced in. Trapped.

When she had turned her parents into crystal, too many emotions flooded her to really know what to feel. Disgust, fear, amazement, remorse, and then the revelation that she was alone.

That year, she had collected a countless amount of bandannas, hats, and sunglasses. There was no grandmother who taught her how to control her stone glares. At first, she didn't even think it was possible to shift back into her human form. Trial and error, countless foster homes, and now an adoptive home, had taught her to fend for herself.

There had been only one other who had known of her second form. He had caught her with a mirror, and could not deny what he saw. She expected him to be afraid, but he was intrigued, wishing to know more. His eyes were kind and trustworthy, his touch gently, soothing her tormented heart.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid_, Isabel thought to herself, pounding her forehead with her fist. At the time, it had felt so good to have another person she could trust with her secret, to share the burden of her second form. He seemed to know everything about her, every talent her second form held. At first, she could only make a cheap white crystal, but he had recommended to try other stones. Topaz, ruby, onyx, diamond... they all tasted so good! So much better than that weak crystal. That tasted like week old tea that had been watered down to within an inch of its potency. Diamonds were like vanilla ice cream, smooth and luscious, like music over her tongue. Ruby was tangy, like a tart filled with exotic spices. They tasted so good!

Either she didn't realize or didn't want to realize all the lives she was destroying by tasting the thousands of new stones that life had offered her. He never told her to try the stone glares on an inanimate object. It wasn't as fun then. They would go to fairs and festivals, and choose their target, waiting until they were separated from the large throng of people. By the end of the day, all that would be left of the unfortunate soul was a life size replica of very heavy diamonds.

Isabel had spent that whole time of her life in her Mythic form, hiding under long sleeves and bandannas. The back of her mind knew she could turn back to human, but being a gorgon was so much fun! But one night, just for amusement, she decided to change back. That was when the revelations had poured down.

Suddenly, she was able to see! She was murdering people! And he, he was helping her. He let her do it. Whatever happened to her statues anyway? He always took them. Diamonds. A diamond the size of a grown man. That would be enough to buy three islands, and build a mansion on all them, with enough servants that her maids could have maids. And where was she sleeping? On a damp floor next to six other foster children. Where was he? He was on his own private island, with a mansion and enough servants that his maids could have maids. _Damn it!_

Isabel looked down at her hands. What an idiot she had been! She had completely trusted that fool, and for what? A brand new set of parents. She didn't need them! She wanted her own parents back. In her heart, she knew she could leave if she wanted. Make a few more precious stones and sell them for money, but if she did, he would find her again. She would gladly take that lying scum on by herself, but the lying scum had friends now. Very powerful friends. Money bought a lot.

With a sigh, she stood up, and entered the house once more, preparing for another day of school.


	5. Chapter 5 Fights

Chapter 5- Fights

Author's Note: Sealednectar (was that yur pen name. i just forgot.) I am proud to say that Isabel is an exact rendition on me... Ice Queen and all. Raven is my friend Courtney (who makes an equally awesome character don't you think? But very different...) Anyway I'm glad everyone is liking the story! I promise to be regular with the updates. If I go a long time between them it prolly means I have died due to too much useless school crap in my head. (chem lab, history debate, history paper, english presentation, english paper, english journals, spanish packet, read six chapters of history, and figure out what the hell we're doing in trigonometry. thank God for art class!) btw... excuse the language in this chapter. Isabel has a bad mouth! (hehe) so does Raven!

Something was up with the girls. Although Isabel had indeed allowed him to give her a ride home the night before, she insisted it was only because she couldn't walk for herself. David didn't really care. It was a start, and he was glad for it. Even Raven seemed a little less militant against the gorgon. Perhaps things would begin to settle down. He revised his hypothesis that morning, when he saw the two fighting as viciously as lions.

"I don't see what your problem is! I was trying to be nice! Its called being a friend!" That was definitely Raven. Her voice was almost unbearable to listen to when she was angry.

"I don't want to be your friend! I don't need you or anyone else! All I want is you to leave me alone."

"You weren't saying that yesterday. What, we're your friends when you need something, but your enemies when we have served our purpose?"

David froze for a moment, greatly appreciating that neither of their powers worked quite as well when they were human. His immobility did not last long, though. He bolted for the line of lockers the two were fighting at, ready to separate them, even if he had to hang one of them from the ceiling. "What's wrong, now?"

"Ask that bitch," Raven snapped. David groaned inwardly. Raven only cursed if she was really livid. "She's the one trying to kill me, when all I did was say hello."

"You did a lot more than say hello, you miserable turkey! You were trying to sing me from my locker! I told you I don't want anything to do with you!"

"I wasn't trying to sing you from the locker! I was just singing! Who are you to say I'm misusing my powers. You're the one who turns everyone who moves into stone!"

It was Isabel's turn to curse. "You bitch!" She threw herself at Raven, ready to claw the smaller girls eyes out. David caught her around the middle and pulled her back, but not before Raven had punched Isabel squarely on the nose. Isabel squirmed like a snake in his arms, until she finally closed her teeth around his hand, making him lose his grip, and threw herself at Raven.

There was a brief scuffle, in which both girls received there fair share of bruises, when David allowed himself to change the smallest of bits, so that he could regain his inhuman strength. After that was done, he simply lifted the two girls by the collar, one dangling from each of his hands. "Are you finished?" he asked.

They glowered at him, then at each other, then nodded.

"Okay, I'm going to put you down." Gently, he set the girls down. They stormed off in opposite directions, to go somewhere to cool down. David hoped that one of those places included a bathroom, for Isabel was suffering from a bloody nose, and Raven had a lovely black eye to match.

"Girls," he muttered, and proceeded to homeroom.

Isabel, after placing a bandanna over her head, indeed went to the bathroom to wash the crimson blood from her face. She worked quickly, not wanting anyone to come in with her close proximity to the mirrors. Without the blood, her nose didn't look near as bad, but it hurt like hell. Although Raven was small, she sure did throw a good arm. It made Isabel hate her all the more.

She was about to walk to homeroom, already ten minutes late, when she remembered that she had not even gotten her books from her locker, too preoccupied with permanently blinding Raven. She took a detour to her locker, holding her breath as she came close to the chemistry wing. The teacher was a bit scatter brained, to say the least, and had a tendency to mix the wrong chemicals together, making a substantial stink bombs at least once a month. Today happened to be one of those days.

She opened her locker quickly, and none to carefully wrenched the books off the top shelf. The lockers tilted at a slight decline, it caused all of her books to topple down, instead. She cursed fluently, then gathered them together.

Isabel noticed a plain yellow envelope that did not belong to her, but had definitely come from her locker. She picked it up, curiously, and tipped its contents out.

Jagged silver shards came piling into her hand, cutting her palm in the process. She dropped the pieces quickly, as blood welled up on her hand. "Damn it," she hissed, as she sucked the cuts to stop the bleeding.

Her eyes flickered once more to the blood stained bits of glass. She yelped in surprise when she realized what they were. Mirrors. Broken up mirrors. Suddenly not caring about her bloody hand, she hurriedly scooped the sharp pieces up and hid them with her other hand, bolting for the trash can down the hall.

As she wiped her hands clean of the silver glass, more cuts decorating the palm of her hand, she looked once more to the yellow envelope. She had dropped it with a start when the broken mirror came out, and now it was partially open, some pieces of paper spilling from the inside.

Confused, she picked up the papers, and realized they were photographs. They were photographs of her, that very morning sitting on the porch and watching the sun rise. Her stomach churned with fear. He knew she was here. They had found her already. "Oh, crap."

Raven had not spoken to David all that day, no matter how many crying puppy dogs he doodled on her notebook during trig. The girl was like iron when she got ticked off. No one would be able to talk any sense into her.

"You can't stay mad at me forever," David finally said, meeting her by her locker at the end of the day.

"Oh, yes I can. You should have let me murder that treacherous snake."

"Do you realize how much detention you would get if you did? I don't even see why you two can't just get along. She's not all bad..."

"Yeah, when she's not trying to turn you into stone," Raven interrupted

"And your not much better when you get in one of your moods," David continued, unabashed.

"I don't understand."

"Raven, Raven, Raven," he said, knowingly, draping an enormous arm around her narrow shoulders. "Don't you remember all the times I ticked you off when we were kids, and you would have me eating dirt all the next day."

She snickered. "I forgot about that. But you were horrid, always trying to clip my wings."

"Well, believe me, the taste of earth was a very memorable moment for me. The point is, we had each other to get past those first few years. I mean, its all pretty new anyway, but we can still count on the other for help, or just for someone to talk to. I don't think Isabel ever had that. She had to learn to fend for herself, and that's why she's so defensive."

"She tried to turn me into a garnet statue this morning," Raven pointed out, looking up to meet his eyes. "She insisted that I would taste much better that way, whatever that's supposed to mean."

"Well, maybe she does take it a little too far, but that's why she needs us."

"Why are you always right?" Raven asked, annoyed.

"Because I'm good at it. Now, hurry and get your books. I'll give you a ride home."

David hoped he had gotten through to her, if only a little. He even dared predict that Isabel and Raven might actually be able to start over... again. Once more, he thought too soon. Isabel was standing by his old excuse for an automobile, wringing her hands, and tearing away at the edges of a yellow envelope.

When Isabel saw Raven, she immediately regained her arrogant composure, and tucked the envelope in a bag over her shoulder. She glared as they came forward, but David couldn't help feeling a strange dread in the pit of his stomach. He had only known Isabel for a short while, but during that time he knew she valued having a cool, calm exterior. She was a royal bitch. Royal bitches did not wring their hands.

"Waiting for someone," Raven asked coolly, when they arrived at the car.

"Not you," Isabel lashed back. "I was hoping to talk to your boyfriend, actually, or are you going to get all clingy on him?"

Raven decided not to grace her with a reply, knowing all to well that whichever side she decided to take on the matter would only lead to her own undoing. "By all means, talk away."

Isabel took a few steps closer to David, relishing in Raven's smoldering glare. _Could this be jealousy? How sweet._ She curled one hand behind his neck, feeling his muscles tense beneath her touch. This close to him, she could taste his scent, almost as if he were stone himself. It was interesting, not particularly sweet, but not unpleasant either. It was like thick, strong coffee that had been brewed barely a moment ago. She decided she liked the taste. It reminded her of strength. Raven was much too spicy, like holding a hot pepper on her tongue for too long. The less time she had to spend with her, the better.

"Isabel, what are you doing," David asked, pushing her away.

"I was just going to ask for a ride," she said, innocently, not removing her hand from his neck. _Look at my eyes, darling. Aren't they pretty. I can already taste the stone you'll be. Onyx. Delicious._

Her hands suddenly flew to her ears as Raven let out an ear piercing shriek. Inwardly, she was grateful. Why was it so hard for her to keep control anymore? Anytime she saw the other two Mythics, she was letting rock form on her tongue. Outwardly, she remained cold as ice, giving Raven a stone glare of her own. The siren glared right back.

"I think you can walk," Raven said.

Isabel fingered the zipper of her bag. She should have expected that Raven would be getting a ride with David. They were best friends, barely separated. Unfortunately, while she didn't mind confiding in David, the other Mythic was a very different story. But, if her suspicions were correct, they were both in danger. She could not deal with the thought of two more lives on her conscious. The time for games was over. "Look, I didn't come her for this. I- I'm s-sorry." The simple phrase had not tasted good at all, like chalk dust forced into her mouth. Horribly gritty, difficult to swallow, and just as difficult to spit out.

Both stared at her as if she had ten heads. Something was definitely wrong if Isabel was apologizing. "I'm listening," Raven said, warily.

She reached into the bag and handed David the yellow envelope. "These pictures were taken this morning, without my knowledge."

"So what, you have a paparazzi?" Raven asked, unimpressed by the photos.

Isabel growled. This would take a lot of explaining, and she was beginning to feel more and more vulnerable on the emptying parking lot. "I'll explain in the car. Just get in."

Slightly amused at being ordered to get into his own car, David complied, pulling his keys from his pocket. "Where to, milady?"

"Anywhere. Just drive."

"You'll be helping for gas money, you know," Raven said from the passenger side.

Isabel, in the back seat, ignored the comment. There was a lot to explain, and little time to do so. She only hoped it was not too late.

A.T.: next chapter Isabel spills the beans about everything (and the mysterious 'he' for those keepong track). I think she and raven get in another fight, too. (they fight a lot)


	6. Chapter 6 Chase

Chapter 6- Chase

"Okay, Isabel, what's the deal?" David asked, as he pulled out of the school parking lot and into the road.

"Have any of you been having any strange dreams lately? Where you lose one of your greatest strengths?"

Raven spun around in her seat to face Isabel. "How did you know about that?"

Isabel gave a smug, knowing smile, making Raven want to smack her even more. "Ah, so did the fury take your voice or your wings?"

She glared, not sure if she was more annoyed that Isabel knew something she didn't or that Isabel knew of her nightmare when she hadn't even told David. She turned back in her chair, sinking it to its somewhat stained upholstery and gritting her teeth at the road ahead.

"It took both, huh? Well, you must be pretty receptive. In mine, it only blinds me. Painful, isn't it?"

Raven clenched her hands into fists. She did not want to listen to Isabel saying she had dreams like that to. She did not want her trying to normalize and rationalize it, when it was just too horrible to poison her waking mind with. She especially didn't want to hear that Isabel shared the same dreams and could talk about it so nonchalantly.

"First one is always tough, and you don't really get used to them. That fury is one mean dude."

"What are you talking about?" David asked, as he pulled up to a Burger King drive-thru. "Anyone want anything. I'm starved."

"You just had lunch an hour ago," Raven said, glad that she could finally say something that Isabel couldn't comment on.

"And I'm hungry again. Do you want anything? I'm buying. Hurry up." Both girls shook their head, and he shrugged and ordered two whoppers and a large fry. "Okay," he continued, unwrapping his heavenly heart attack on a bun and taking an enormous bite from it. "What are you two talking about? I haven't gotten any weird dreams, besides for a few test-hell dreams for that trig test."

"I didn't expect you to," Isabel said, calmly. "He has a preference for the female persuasion."

"He, who? The fury?"

"No, the one who controls the fury." Isabel sighed, and scratched her head, thoughtfully. "A fury is just what it sounds like. The product of someone's anger. It's not a nice creature, so if you see one, keep your distance."

"How do I know if I see one," David asked through a mouthful of burger.

"You'll know," Isabel and Raven said at the same time. They looked at each other a moment, a strange emotion twitching the corners of their mouth. If David didn't know any better, he would think they were trying to suppress a smile. It was quickly replaced by the same cool mask in barely a moment's time.

"As I was saying, furies are the product of a certain Mythic's anger. If you keep up on your Greek mythology, you would know that they were known for doing all the bad stuff. Pillage, plunder, destroy... the basics. What Greek myths fail to mention is that these Mythics, while being able to control furies, can control any other Mythic, as long as they are in their second form. Here's the best part. Since they have Mythic blood, our powers don't work on them unless we are in our second form. When we are in our second form, they can control us."

"I assume you are talking about a specific person, then," David inquired.

She flashed a smile at him. "That's the next part of the story. There is only one Controller that I am aware of. His name is Raphael. Now, Raphael went through the same thing on his thirteenth birthday, Friday the thirteenth, that the rest of us did. The original change is never easy. You don't know if you can change back. Not fun. But his physical appearance didn't change, making it all the more unnerving for him. He is just suddenly calling on mad killers that will destroy everything but him. Now, as you can imagine, this ticked him off a little, so he learned how to control them. He began going a little research, and became jealous that there were other Mythics out there, very rich Mythics.

"That's where I came along. All he could do was destroy with his power, but then he learned he could control other Mythics. And he found me and I was perfect. I was young, stupid, and I could make any stone I wanted."

"Hold up," Raven interrupted. "If you can make any stone you wanted, what the hell are you still doing here?"

"Don't you think it would look a little suspicious if I suddenly have in my possession a diamond the size of a man? Raphael isn't that stupid. He's waiting for something like that."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Anyway, I was in Mythic form for so long, it didn't even occur to me that he was anything but perfect." She paused a moment. The memory was very fresh, and talking about it wasn't one of her favorite pastimes. She decided the briefer her information, the better. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. She hoped. She reached for her bag, and pulled out the yellow envelope. "I thought I had lost him. I had for almost two years, and then I found those pictures in my locker this morning." She handed it to Raven, only because David couldn't open it with one hand in the wheel and the other holding his second whopper. "He knows I'm here, and obviously he knows you two are, also."

"There's three of us, and one of him," David pointed out. "He's a little out numbered."

"Ah, yes, well that's the part I forgot to mention. I can make a lot of diamonds in a year."

"How many?"

"Enough that you could quietly disappear for the rest of your life and only have to worry about what color you want you nails painted."

"Then if this guy is rich, why is he still after you?"

Isabel smiled once more. "There's a funny thing about money. Once you get a little, anything more is never enough. Now, here is the best part. He won't only be looking for me anymore."

Raven looked back at her, rage in her eyes. "You mean..."

"Yup," she replied, happily. "Welcome to my world. No where to run, no where to hide, and the only protection you have you can't use. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?"

Raven muttered something under her breath, something that David could have sworn sounded like, "Dirty rotten bitch." He decided not to comment. The last thing he needed was for them to start another fight.

More to halt Raven's glare than anything else, Isabel turned around in her seat and looked behind them. She frowned when she saw a very expensive sports car following them.

She had chosen to live in Wilkes-Barre for a reason. That little pinprick of a city was not known for particularly classy environment. In fact, most people drove minivans, SUVs, and station wagons. Raphael would not hire someone who would willingly drive such a car. They would come in style.

"Not to scare you or anything," Isabel said, ignoring Raven's incredulous 'humph'. "But you might be getting your first glance at my world fairly quickly. Dodge Viper has been following us for a while now."

David swore and glanced at his rear-view mirror. "Nice wheels. What I would do for a car like that..."

"Don't tempt them. I suggest you make a u-turn and see if he follows."

"What! I'm not going to-"

Raven glanced back, changing her eyes to that of her second form. They were much stronger than her human eyes, designed to see the world from seventy feet in the air. She saw the clear outline of a hair dryer shaped item underneath his jacket. She highly doubted it was a hair dryer. "David! Do what she says, he's got a gun."

Isabel looked back also, opening her mouth to taste the air. "Nope, it's a stun gun. Won't kill you, but it hurts like hell."

The decision of whether to press the gas and drive for there life was made for them, as Dodge Viper pulled up beside them, and the driver beckoned them to pull over. David and Raven shared an equally pained look. It was indeed a dilemma. They could either admit to needing Isabel's help and drive, and drive fast, or pull over and try to sort it out normally.

Isabel unclipped her seat belt and stuck her hand out the driver's side window. Her fingers were formed in a very rude symbol. This angered the other driver greatly, and he slammed the side of his car into David's.

"Hey! That's my car!" he yelled. The assailant repeated his motion for them to pullover.

"Now do you believe me?" Isabel asked. He never responded, for they were suddenly speeding down the Market Street bridge, with the silver Viper following. "Go left! Go left!"

"Are you insane? That road is covered in speed bumps! I'll get stuck!"

"No, he will." David wasn't going to do it. He was going to go straight like a stupid amateur. Isabel leaned over and yanked the steering wheel to the side, causing the tires to screech as the barely made the entrance to the road through the park.

Four very rough speed bumps later, they looked back to see the silver Viper. Just as Isabel suspected, he had gotten stuck.

"Okay, now double back. Go down the bridge again."

"But we just went that way."

"I know that."

David growled about wasting gas, but followed Isabel's command. A block ahead, he turned back on to Market Street, and crossed the bridge back to the East Side. No one followed.

Raven's hands were white-knuckled on the side of her seat. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest, she was afraid it might stop working from overuse. There was nothing to say to moralize this. They were in danger for there freedom. Everything was about to change. Finally, she found what was left of her voice. "David, drop me off at my house. Now."


	7. Chapter 7 Truce

Chapter 7- Truce

A.T.: It had to happen sometime. Raven and Isabel..._ almost_ friends. lol. have a little humor, little more hint hints for the upcoming chappies and of course and action packed ending that us a cruek and tororous cliffie. (did i mention i was feeling slightly cruel and tortuorus today. mwahaha!) nah...i have to do homework now, but i'll update either tomorow or sunday.

After calling to cancel dance, Raven Voight collapsed on her bed, ignoring the pile of steadily growing homework that drowned her desk. The normal sounds of the evening; parents coming home from work, basketballs on the sidewalk, a few people talking as they walked by her house; were completely drowned by the dark constant blare of a metal band screaming in her headsets. The words were sadistic, slightly acrid, but she had stopped listening to the words hours ago. It just sounded like noise anymore. Anything to block the sound of her thoughts was more than welcome. Whenever left to hear silence, paranoia would trickle into the conscious part of her brain, causing her heart beat to increase from a normal rhythm and perspiration to bead on her forehead.

_Why did flipping Isabel have to come to flipping Wilkes-Barre in the flipping first place? _Raven thought. She had reinstated her vow to keep swearing to a minimum, so edited her thoughts to a more G-rated version. It was a difficult vow, especially when her thoughts were of Isabel.

Raven turned off her music, keeping the dormant headpieces on her ears to suppress the incessant ringing that would no doubt follow the brief silence. It didn't work. A high pitched drone was all she could hear. When she took the headphones off, it seemed to get worse. Her phone was ringing.

She picked up the chiming mechanism and pressed it to her ear. "Hello?"

Silence from the other line. She could almost make out a light breathing, but her phone was old and it could be static.

"Hello," she repeated.

"Hi, Raven."

She knew that voice. She had thought she could be rid of the lilting arrogant tone for at least the rest of the night, but no, Isabel Noctrice, that blasted evil conniving snake, had called her house! She slammed the phone down on the cradle, then remembered she had not pressed 'off'. Annoyed at the stupid somewhat-modern technology, she picked it up once more, thoroughly pounded the off-button, then slammed it on the cradle. Of course, in less than a minute, it rang again.

"What!" she snapped into the receiver.

"What, you're not happy to talk to me? I just saved your life and this is how you thank me?" Same Isabel, same teasing tone, same unhidden malice. Oh yes, Raven could thoroughly enjoy punching her to a mutilated mass of blood and twisted bones. In fact, the more she thought about it, the more fun it seemed.

"You wouldn't have had to save my life if you had left David and I alone in the first place!"

"Hey, you two came to me, remember?"

"Forget it. What do you want?"

"I guess it's too much to ask for a thank you," Isabel commented.

"You're right, it is."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone. Raven could almost see Isabel's gorgeous, super-model face, twist into a mockingly contemplative expression. She wished this conversation wasn't directed over three miles of telephone cable, or she could have slapped the pursed lips and perfectly arched brow from her face. "It's easier to talk to you over the phone. I can't taste you, anymore. You taste really bad."

Despite herself, Raven was curious. Isabel mentioned tastes for a lot of things, but she never really explained what it was she was tasting. It wasn't like she went around licking everything she saw. Or at least, she hoped she didn't. "What are you talking about?"

"You mean to tell me, after all the years of you being a siren, you don't depend on one certain sense more than the others?"

Raven remained silent. Of course she had. Her eyes were easily as good as an eagles, and just as sharp and defined. She just didn't want to tell Isabel that.

"Do I sense withheld information? Maybe I should hang up and go call your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," she replied, instinctively. She swore for letting more information about herself slide without getting any dirt on Isabel, then swore again when she realized she had once more broken her vow not to swear.

There was an uncomfortable silence that Isabel failed to break. "Oh, I see then." That was a lie. Isabel very much did not see.

And it hit Raven. Oh, she had dirt. Not only did she have dirt, she had mud, clay and roots coming up in thick, delicious mounds. "You like him, don't you? And you just keep using the whole fury thing to get closer to him. Oh, this is rich."

"I fail to see the humor," Isabel stated. Raven was pleased to hear a slight edge in her voice. _Payback is a b-witch, darling._ She saved herself from cursing just in time.

David and Raven were like brother and sister. They had gone to the semi-formal together, but as friends. They were quick to disperse with any rumors about late nights and a lot of beer. They had each been on dates with other people, but nothing too serious, and it was common-place to okay the person with the other. Just like a close sibling would approve the other's choice of partner. Isabel had just made a fatal mistake. She had given Raven the upper hand, and the vile snake was just beginning to realize it.

"Oh, I see. Can't have your baby dating snakes, can you?" The coolness was lost from Isabel's voice, replaced by sweet, acrid fire.

Raven sighed. No, she didn't want that, but she also didn't want to be a spiteful, hormonal teenager in a cat-fight over a guy she didn't even like. She was, by nature, a very expressive person, which meant that she was also very vehement in her arguments. That didn't mean that when the heat of war died down, she didn't feel the sting of battle wounds. The thought of losing David's friendship was much to high a stake to play. And even she did not like fighting with people all the time, although it did have its perks. "I say, truce."

Isabel swore she had heard wrong. "What?"

"Truce," Raven repeated. "I still don't like you, and I doubt I ever will, but we're going to need to work together eventually, and I would rather have all hardships put aside when the time comes." Raven grinned. Isabel wasn't the only one who could pull some sophisticated sentences from the depths of her brain. "So, let's not try to kill each other whenever we meet; you stop trying to turn David into stone; and I guess I can deal with you being around."

There was silence. "You diluted some of your spiciness, Siren. You taste better now."

"I thought you said you couldn't taste over the phone."

Isabel laughed softly, a mere breath of wind coming from the sound piece. "I lied."

"What did you call me for anyway?"

Three miles away, Isabel bit her lip. She had called to gloat, of course. Apparently, that idea had gone down the drain. "Just asking why you weren't at dance," she stated, lamely.

"Yeah, okay," Raven replied in disbelief.

David Connor had just ran more miles then he could fairly count, did some boxing with his shadow, and gone through several rounds of push ups that he would no doubt regret doing the next day, and he still had energy to burn. He entered his room, mildly contemplating what he would put on the walls next. They were currently covered in his own artwork, from abstracts and landscapes on high quality canvas with high quality paint, to scraps of notebook paper that contained meaningless doodles done in plain pencil and pen.

He picked up the phone, ready to dial Raven's number, then paused. She had been seriously irked when he dropped her off, and seemed like she could use some time to think. He wasn't particularly in the mood for talking anyway, the revelations Isabel had planted in his brain still entirely too freshly sown. If he had a choice, he would have preferred to paint something, but he was fresh out of white paint, and it was too late to go to the store to buy some more.

Sufficing to simply sketch on one of his countless drawing pads, he collapsed on his bed, muscles aching from the recent torture he put them through. Super-strength. He loved it. The girls had some kick but powers of their own, but they were so complicated, with half a thousand side-effects. Raven could barely talk some days if she had been doing serious singing the night before. And Isabel- well, Isabel was just Isabel. She would turn anything that hold still long enough to stone, and then say it tasted too bad for her to keep.

But strength- there was no down sides. Okay, maybe he was slightly clumsier than the average seventeen year old, but that wasn't too bad. He'd rather be super strong and clumsy than super weak and graceful.

He heard the doorbell ring and gave a groan. If it was Raven then there was probably trouble. If it was Isabel, he was probably in trouble. While he was having a pretty easy time at controlling his second form this particular night, he knew Isabel enough that she almost never remained human once the sky went black. He wasn't particularly fond of the idea of talking to a girl with live, poisonous snakes in her hair; poisonous snakes that would not bite him as long as Isabel told them not to. Not reassuring.

He perked his ears to the sound of voices downstairs. Raven has sight and Isabel had taste. David's ears were slightly more dependable than that of the average dog. It made loud music a living nightmare though.

What he heard was not reassuring. Voices shouting, jaws clenching, ad finally a cry of pain from his mother. He bolted down the stairs.

"What the-" he stopped short when he saw the man in the door. It was the same man who had driven the silver Viper, the same one that had chased them through West Side, and the same one they assumed they had lost. "Oh crap."

The man hadn't seen him yet. He had less than a second to make a plan. Fortunately, less than a second was all he needed. He hastened back up the stairs as quietly as possible, hoping his parents could keep them by the doorway for approximately fifteen seconds.

The window from his room lead to a dead drop to the back yard, but the window from his parents room held an awning both below and beneath it. It was a long shot, even in his own head, but it was better than attacking a mysterious man with a stun gun head-on.

He opened the window quickly, and hoisted himself through, feet inching down the steep decline, and at the same time hanging onto the beams over his head. It occurred to him that house awnings weren't usually designed for a two hundred pound body to balance on top of it, but it was already much too late for such revelations. He half walked, half slid down the short expanse, catching the edge with his hands at the last moment. This left his hanging from the side with a monkey-like quality. Of course, it was not the time for humorous statements, so he dropped the last couple feet to the ground. No sooner had the mysterious man turned around then David had pinched the nerve cluster at the back of his neck. He read somewhere that this would cause the person to become unconscious. Apparently, whomever had written the article had done their research, because the man dropped instantly.

"Mom, Dad! Are you okay?" He turned to face his parents only to find that the two people wearing his parents clothes were not the people who birthed him. He once more repeated that ever-famous line. "Oh crap!"

The woman smiled with glittering white teeth, and pulled a gun from inside his mother's bathrobe. "That's right, honey. You are busted."

They say that when faced with a serious dilemma, the brain completely freezes, making the victim tense up for a brief but precious span of time. This was definitely not what happened to David. Staring down the hollow of a deadly looking gun (not that he knew what kind of gun he should particularly look out for) his brain started to work at super speed. He had another fraction of a second to come up with a plan, and this plan must include finding his parents. They must be close by because it had definitely been his mother and father he had seen before he had raced upstairs. His best bet looked to be the coat closet, but they were probably unconscious. There was also the problem of the gun being aimed right between his eyes. He didn't particularly fear death, but he could think of much less painful ways to go then a bullet in the head.

This all went through his head in that fraction of a second he was supposed to make a plan. He had another fraction of a second to act upon the idea inkling in the back of his brain. There was, of course, an infinite amount of odds against him, mainly the fact that these two were trained agents and he was a seventeen year old kid who had never even taken karate. So, he had to increase his odds.

Out in the night, he let his second form take over. His body grew, his muscles thickened, and lethal looking battering horns appeared on the top of his head. Minotaur. Oh yeah, the odds were most definitely evened.

The poor man and woman had never seen it coming. There was a brief second after the imposter had drawn the gun that David held a contemplative, not panicked, face. Then all hell broke loose.

They suddenly found themselves painfully tucked between the splintered remains of the banister. Neither could describe what exactly had happened, or how there rear ends had been so horrendously nestled between the vertical spokes. All they could say was that when their vision came around, it was most definitely not a seventeen year old kid standing in front of them.

"Stay out of my house!" He walked to the coat closet to where his incapacitated parents remained, when he suddenly froze. He was confused. His brain was saying to go forward, but his body did not seem to be listening. _Move, move, MOVE! _His feet remained firmly planted on the floor.

He cursed fluently when he realized what a fatal error he had made. (Of course, his mouth never opened to voice his opinions out loud.) His brain had just been going a mile a millisecond, and he couldn't wait a millisecond more for it to stumble across the revelation that it was seriously stupid to change into Mythic form when a Controller knew he was there. _Oh, crap!_

Through the door appeared a slight wisp of a boy. He was as old as David, and yet his blue eyes seemed old and diluted, as if he had seen too much and lived too long. Despite his designer leather clothes, custom tailored for him, he seemed strangely malnourished. That might have been because of the deadly pallor of the skin stretched tightly over his gaunt face, or the mess of black hair that topped his head had never seemed to be brushed. A slight frown creased his otherwise wrinkle-free brow. His gaze was fixed upon David. "Sorry about that. It had to be done. There was no need for that, by the way," he gestured to his two agents, who were currently trying to pry themselves from the debris of the banister. "They wouldn't have really shot you. I am Raphael Alverez, by the way. Pleased to meet you."

He held out his hand, and David heard a strange voice echo in his head. _Introduce yourself._ "My name is David Connor," he said, shaking the outstretched hands. "Pleased to meet you." _No! No! I am not pleased to meet you! You are not welcome in my house, and when you let me go, I'm going to break you in half!_

"No need to get violent," Raphael commented. "Now, if you would be so kind as to wait as my agents here blindfold you, and then we can get going. There's lots to do, and little time."

A dark sack was place over his head and tied below his chin. He could see small filters of light coming through the weaves of the fabric, but nothing else. _Raven, I need you! Isabel! Anyone!_

No one answered as he walked calmly to a car, and sat calmly in the back seat, and waited calmly as they drove to God only knows where.He was alone and in control of nothing. Not even his own will.


	8. Chapter 8 Discovered Helpless

Chapter 8- Discovered helpless

A.T.: Sorry I didn't update over the weekend. I actually had time to have fun! Yippee! sealednectar, i'm loving your reviews. lol. honored! em, too! you guys are awesome. don't be afraid to yell at me for something tho. i like getting into arguments, (arguments not fights) about particualr outcomes, reactions, characters etc. i'm a big girl (hehe) and can take a diss (winkwink charlie hazel). anywho, i only have time for one chappie today, cus i have to pack for thanksgiving (yea! to grandmother's house we go!) and make dinner (kraft mac and cheese anyone? thanksgiving means real food!!) its not that bad of a cliffie, i don't think

Bright and early Saturday morning, Isabel and Raven met at Edwardsville for their private dance class. The story Miss Elisabeth had created would be the crown jewel of the upcoming recital. It started with a Greek chorus dance, a slow, liquid lyrical. In it, both Raven and Isabel were only acting in the background. Each lived with others of their kind, but each were unhappy at who they lived with. They both run away. Then came each of their solo's, playing to the individual's particular strengths, and would end with a duet that would incorporate them both into a perfectly symmetrical routine.

Miss Elisabeth quickly discovered that Isabel had an uncanny gift for flexibility. Not only was it uncanny, it was slightly inhuman. She could fold herself in so many positions that, at first, it's painful to just watch it. But after the first few moves, everyone has to watch her, because the impossible liquidity is beautiful.

Although Raven was flexible, it just about ended after her splits. Her strengths were leaps and turns. Her round of fouettes that had gotten her the part in the first place was just the beginning of what she could do. Before becoming devoted to dance, she had taken gymnastics. She could very easily leap over anyone's head, besides maybe David. Miss Elisabeth was ecstatic with ideas.

"Isabel, do a scorpion from the floor, no, flex your foot." She corrected her as she said this. "Now, brace your knee with your other leg. Keep your back up, please, you're not a worm. Take your ankle with your hand for a little extra support, there you go. Come here Raven."

Seeing Isabel's face contoured in agony from holding such an awkward pose for so long was more than enough compensation for having to work with her. Raven let out a light giggle before following Miss Elisabeth's command.

"Now, put your foot, no hand, on her flexed foot like this." She demonstrated, clasping Isabel's bare foot in a firm grasp.

"What are you about to do?" Isabel asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Raven is going to handstand on your foot."

"WHAT!" They shrieked at the same time. Isabel sidled out of the scorpion, just in case Raven was insane enough to actually try it.

Miss Elisabeth gave a rather devilish grin. "Well, once Raven learns to balance, she's going to back flip into a handstand on your foot."

If possible, they were louder the second time they screamed. "WHAT!"

The teacher gave a very dramatic sigh. "Just try it. I'm right here to spot you both."

Raven examined the length of Isabel's foot. Size eight, tops. That was approximately seven inches she had to balance on, and it wasn't a nice flat seven inches either. She bit her lip in thought. Well, no one said the lead would be easy. "I want to practice on the floor first."

Miss Elisabeth complied, so while Isabel practiced her contortionist solo, Raven allowed the teacher to move her into different kinds of handstands. "Bend that leg, soften your other arm, and please turn your foot out." Raven's face was red from standing on her hands so long. "See if you can hold that leg and pull it forward, like an upside down split." Raven's elbow quavered slightly, and she was left sprawling on the ground, barely avoiding her teacher's nose in the process.

"Having a little trouble," Isabel asked, from a rather unusual position. Her feet were in front of her head. She slid out of it easily, as graceful as a snake, into a split.

Raven would have very much liked to stick her tongue out, but knew that would not be the mature thing to do. So instead, she flipped once more into the handstand, and moved into the position her teacher had described, flawlessly. "Just wait till I have to do it on your foot," she commented, not resisting the urge to make up a few tricks as she did so. Miss Elisabeth liked the tricks. Both Isabel and Raven cursed silently.

"I'll get you, just wait," Isabel whispered as she pulled her leg once more into the scorpion.

Raven and Isabel's relationship had changed dramatically since the conversation the night before. When once, such a comment would have sent them both into a fiery fist fight, Raven realized that such sarcastic words were just that. Sarcastic words not to be taken seriously. "Just hold the pose and try not to drop me."

They used a stool at first, so Raven could be level with Isabel's foot, but they both fell as soon as Raven put her weight down. It was the beginning of a long painful hour of falling.

Sixty minutes, several bruises, and two very strained tempers later, they were no closer to getting the described trick. Fortunately, another class was coming in, saving them from reaching for each other's throats. Miss Elisabeth said their problem was trust. Both were forced to agree.

"Well, see you in school," Raven said, cradling her very sore arms.

Isabel straitened the bandana over her curls and shouldered her dance bag. "See you."

Raven walked home, killing time before she had to start her homework. She remembered that David had borrowed her trigonometry notebook in school the day before. With all the insanity that had went on after school was over, she had forgotten to take it back from him. With a slight sigh of frustration, she changed her course, en route to David's abode.

She frowned in confusion when she rounded the block to his street. A police car was planted on the street, and the perimeter of the yard was decorated with yellow tape. Her heart skipped in a brief moment of panic, but she quickly squashed the unnecessary emotion. This was no time to lose her head.

As she walked forward, her mind raced through plausible explanations. _The wrong house, maybe. No, it's definitely the Connor's. A gas leak, or maybe their security alarm was tripped._ She quickened her pace. _A wild animal could have gotten in the house. They could call the police for that, couldn't they?_ She broke out into a run. _Please be there, David. Please, please, please!_

A uniformed officer walked out of the house, headed toward his cruiser. She grabbed his shoulder, urgently. "What's going on?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Raven Voight. David's friend. What happened?"

Mr. and Mrs. Connor came out of the house. Both looked very distressed, their eyes red and cheeks slightly puffy. They didn't need to say anything for Raven to know, but she couldn't believe it.

"We tried to call you, but no one was home," Mrs. Connor said, her voice dry and raspy from crying. "Raven, someone took David. They stole my baby!"

"No, no your wrong. That can't be. You're lying." She pushed passed the distraught parents, bolting up the porch stairs. When she opened the door, David would be right there. He would have a huge grin splayed across his face that would turn into a frown when he saw the madness going on outside his house. He would have an obscenely large sandwich in one hand, and her trig notebook in the other. He would be there. She was sure of it.

Raven opened the door, willing herself not to crumble when she saw the splintered remains of the banister. She bounded up the stairs, heart pounding wildly in her chest. It was still early, only ten in the morning. He would be sleeping. He'd grumble at being woken up. He was not there.

The police officer appeared behind her as she stared helplessly at the empty room. "He was taken last night, around eleven. I know you were close friends with him, so we need to take you down to the station and ask you a few questions."

Tears were falling down her face. She kept her jaw tightly clamped, knowing anything she said would be laced with the deadly energy from her voice. She was aware of the subtle changes occurring in her body as she lost control of her second form. "I can't stay here," she said urgently, and the officer shook his head to clear the ringing that had suddenly occurred in his ears. "I have to go."

She turned, abruptly, for the door, but the man caught her wrist. "Please, ma'am, the interview will only take a couple minutes. The sooner we get everyone questioned, the better."

Her eyes were huge in her pale face, glazed with tears that kept flowing on her cheeks. She opened her mouth slightly, and the officer was very surprised when she started to sing. No words were formed, but notes that just seemed so perfect together. He was never one to be artistically moved by anything, but he suddenly found himself wishing that he knew how to dance or paint; anything that could celebrate the beauty of such a voice. He dropped her wrist, and she ran.

The day was cloudy, plenty of cover enough for her to fly. Raven ran straight for the woods, not stopping until she was sure that no one could see her amongst the thick trees. She felt her bones hollow, her hands pop as the joints in her hand lengthened to become wings. Feathers grew in her hair, and her already meager height was diminished by another foot. She was just barely four feet in her Mythic form.

She flew. Siren's eyes scoured every last inch of the city, easily piercing through the thick clouds that hid her. Her wings were soaking wet, her hair plastered to her face from the cloud's moisture. Her back and shoulders ached, already she had been flying for more than five hours. She did not stop. Not until she found David.

Night came early, and Siren's quest was still fruitless. She turned to the only other person she knew who could help. Isabel.

"I wondered where you were," Isabel commented when Siren flew through her bedroom window. "You look like crap."

Siren didn't even have the breath to comment, her lungs aching from such a long flight. Her wings hung limply at her sides, heavy with a mix of moisture and fatigue. "Water," she rasped.

"Change back, Siren. You're hurting my ears." As Isabel went to the kitchen for water, Raven reclaimed her human form. "So, did you find anything?"

How could she be so calm about this? David was gone and she was talking like they were trying to find a lost dog. "Not in the mood, Isabel. No, I didn't find anything."

"I wanted to tell you when I found out that there was really no point in even looking. By the way, what did you do to that police dude. He was turning pirouettes when I came in to be questioned."

"So what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait for God knows what! David has been kidnapped!"

"Yea, I already got the download," Isabel said, calmly. "What I was going to say was that we need to find out where Raphael is currently working from."

Raven clapped her hands together with mock enthusiasm, then groaned when it caused her aching shoulders to strain even more. "Good job, Isabel. How long did it take you to come up with that plan?"

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the comment. Raven was an amateur, no matter how you spun it. "Anyway, what we need to do is find the silver Viper, and follow it."

Raven's jaw dropped in disbelief. Isabel had the nerve to insult her when she comes up with a 'follow-the-brick-road' plan. "Do you have any idea how many silver Vipers are in the world?"

"Do you have any idea how many silver Vipers are in the world with the license plate FXI 215D?"

Raven opened her mouth, but was temporarily at a loss for words. "How- how do you know that?"

"I read the license plate when we were chased, duh." She took a seat at the rolling chair in front of her computer and logged onto the internet. "Anyway, while you were busy flying, I took the liberty of running a search on the license plate. Then it was just a matter of hacking into the confidential information for police records, and we got our guy."

"You hacked into the police computers?" She did not want to know how Isabel gained access to secret files.

"Yeah, and it was surprisingly easy. Don't look at me like that. If it were really that secret, they should have done a better job of protecting it."

"How did you learn to do that?"

Isabel shrugged her shoulders. When the need arose for her to use something, she could learn how pretty fast. She had a feeling Raven would be experiencing such changes, also. Not only did they have the advantage of a slightly higher I.Q. than that of the average teenager, even a human mind can learn things fast if its a matter of their own survival. And their minds weren't totally human. "You'll start to pick up a few things, trust me. Okay, so I could only get a few things over the police files. We would actually have to be there at one of their computers to get anything more, but I'm going to try anyway. Most programmers install a backdoor that only they know about. This is pretty basic technology, so I might be able to find it."

Isabel typed furiously, clicking away at the mouse at different intervals for luck. Raven didn't have much skill with computers, but found herself vaguely comprehending the process.

"Damn it! I need a password." A red sign blinked the word on the screen, below a black box.

"Can't you just go around it?" Raven asked.

"This is around it," Isabel snapped. "Okay, if I were a password, what would I be?" She typed in ECILOP ERRAB SEKLIW.

"What is that? Latin?"

Isabel grinned. "Nope. Wilkes Barre Police, backwards. If we're lucky, whoever designed this was a Da Vinci fan." No sooner were the words out of her mouth, the computer gave a beep of triumph, the screen changing to what looked suspiciously like police records. Isabel punched the air in victory. "Yes! Leonardo's legacy lives on."

Raven gaped. "How did you know it was going to be backwards?"

"I didn't. I just did a report on Da Vinci, and he always wrote his journals backwards. I figured it was worth a shot."

"Okay, so what's the dude's name. Then you can just run a search on him."

Isabel growled. It wasn't quite as easy as using a search engine, though that's what she would no doubt have to use. She also had to make sure no computer geeks found out that someone was there that shouldn't be. She didn't bother mentioning that to Raven. "Yeah, okay." She typed in Richard Collins, with a sub- heading of Bug-Eye.

"Huh?"

"Wait till you see his picture. Bug-Eye is his nickname." Raven snorted when the picture showed up. The man was clearly name correctly, for his eyes stuck out with a strange, grasshopper-like, quality. "Six foot two inches tall. Brown eyes and hair. Has a record of disturbances, but they can never pin anything on him. Current residence is... come on, just a little longer." A computer geek had found her, and was trying very hard to get her to leave.

"What's wrong."  
"Some dude isn't playing nice. Leave me alone you pathetic excuse for a computer expert. You're talking to a professional, now." She paused briefly, bringing up another program. "Okay, it's cool. I sent him a bug."

"Won't they figure out who its from?"

"Nah, I routed it through some Swedish banker's account, so he'll have a hard time tracing it, even if he can get his computer working. Okay, location. Current residence is in... NYC! Damn!" She had hoped Raphael was still working things locally. Apparently, he was smarter than she originally thought. Is she dared fathom a guess, his enterprise was probably stretching across the entire North Eastern area.

"Problem? I might not be rich but even I can afford bus tickets to New York."

Isabel growled in frustration. "It's not that. It's just... Raphael is using his brain! The only reason I got away last time was because Raphael was immature and really stupid. He's smarter, now."

"How old is he, again.?"

"As old as us."

"So how come he's got so many sources everywhere?"

"I told you! Money buys everything!" She looked at the clock. It was already twelve thirty at night, and she was tired. "Look, we're not getting anything else done today. We're both tired, and that's making us irritable. Let's call it in for the night."

"No! I'm not going to stop when David's gone!"

Isabel could have ripped put her own hair. On second thought, she would much more preferred to rip out Raven's. She was such an amateur! "No one's giving up. But we're not going to find anything if we're both too tired to lift our head. Go home, go to bed. Meet me tomorrow at the park."

"Do you have an idea?"

"I'll dream on it."

Raven said nothing. She knew very well that if David were here right now he could have thought up the ultimate criminal mastermind plan. His brain just worked like that. Of course, if David were here right now, they wouldn't need to come up with a criminal mastermind plan in the first place. So, it was up to Raven and Isabel to be the masterminds of this plot. "Yeah, okay. See you tomorrow."

A.T: me again! so do u like Isabel's awesome talents. don't worry, everyone has their little thing that helps the situation, but Isabel is an intresting character since she's sorta a veteran in this area. that means she knows about a TON of stuff. she'll be the go-to girl. next chapter they figure out how to get to david...or how he gets to them (hint hint) Its also another Rafey original (i love giving my bad guys nich names)... lotsa luv (to the cha cha thanksgiving in two days! hey!thanksgiving in two days! hey!)


	9. Chapter 9 Don't Listen To Me

Chapter 9- Don't Listen To Me

A.T.: Guess what! I'm so fat right now there is no way I'm getting into a leotard on monday. sucks in breath waaay too much pecan pie. So this chapter is very deep... it makes me cry! Poor Raven... claps hand over mouth No talkie, no talkie!! enjoy!!

Minotaur stood outside Raven's house, keeping to the shadows. He screamed inside his head to run away, but his body would not obey him. He did not want to do this! Raphael had given him his orders, and he was following them like some sort of compliant crony. He had a brain. Why couldn't he use it?

He climbed the tree on the side of the house, the one that reached to Raven's window. He was trapped inside his own body! Although Raphael was not here to witness the execution of the mission, his instructions were branded into his brain. _Get Raven to me. She trusts you. Use it._

To his horror, he had replied without a single sideways comment. "Of course, sir. Anything." He would have ripped out his own tongue for calling that scrawny runt, sir, but his arms wouldn't obey his command to reach his mouth.

Minotaur opened the window quietly, and slid through with surprising grace for one so large. Raven was sleeping fitfully, the covers twisted tightly around her legs, a scowl wrinkling her brow as she dreamed.

She clutched her throat suddenly, choking in pain. Her breathing became faster and sweat beaded her forehead. David wanted to wake her up, but Minotaur kept watching, waiting for the opportune moment. As he watched, he saw her mouth lip a constant, repeated phrase. "Help me."

"No!" Raven screamed, and sat upright in bed, still holding her neck as if she expected some phantom wound to be there. Minotaur placed his hand over her mouth to stop her from waking her parents, but this only caused her to panic more, still wrought with night-terrors and grogginess.

"Raven, it's me. Calm down, it was just a dream."

It took several seconds, but she finally recognized him. "David! Oh my God, David! You- you're here! How did you- what happened? Why are you in Mythic form?"

"There's no time, Raven. I have to get you out of here. Raphael is coming!" _No, no he's not! I'm going to take you to him! Don't listen to me!_

"David, your scaring me. There's something wrong with you."

Inside, David cheered. He knew Raven would be able to tell that he was not himself. She never missed a trick. "There is nothing wrong with me. Come on, put shoes on. We have to go."

Raven's face was ghostly pale in the faint light, but her eyes were as sharp as ever. That look she gave him; it seemed as if she was seeing straight through him. David could have cried with happiness. She knew! Thank God she knew!

"No, I'm staying right here."

Raphael's orders repeated in his head, as if he was standing in the room beside him. _Get Raven to me_. He felt his hand tighten in a fist, felt his arm draw back to his ear and saw the look of raw betrayal on Raven's face. He punched her, square on the stomach. Striking someone as a human usually left some vibrant bruises, but striking someone as Minotaur was a completely different story. She flew a full four feet in the air before landing once more on the bed, choking for breath.

He moved to strike once more, a sharp elbow between the shoulder blades that would immobilize her, but Raven rolled off the bed before he could reach her. _Run, run! I don't want to hurt you! Get out of here!_ "Come here, pretty birdy. Come out and play." That could not be his words spilling from his mouth. He could not believe that it was him that had caused Raven to run and hide. He was glad that he hadn't seen where she ran to. She had been too quick. "Where are you hiding? Come out, come out, where ever you are."

Audible to only his ears was the light, panicked breathing coming from the desk. Minotaur walked toward the sound, and leaned over the flat surface. Tucked behind its wooden legs, Raven could be seen. "Boo."

Raven shoved the desk forward, making it crash onto his knees. Although this barely even made a bruise, it distracted him long enough for her to change.

In barely a moment's time, Siren's voice was telling him to stop, telling him to change back to human, but Raphael's power was still fresh in his mind. Her voice did not breach his control. He backhanded her across the face with enough force to send her clear across the room, a trickle of crimson blood running from the corner of her mouth.

"David, this isn't you. I know it's not!" Siren yelped. He hit her. "David, stop! Change back! Change back!" He hit her again. "You're stronger than him!" He hit her again. "God, David. Please, stop." She changed back, for her human bones were able to withstand a lot more punishment then her hollow bird one's, but she was sure that if he struck her once more in the ribs, she would break in half all together. She brought her knees to her chest to protect her vital organs, and wrapped her arms over her head in case he decided a finishing blow to the head was all she needed. Raphael's power was much too strong for her to break, even though it was so similar to her own. All she ever did with her power was a few notes here and there to protect her friends. She never really used it to any real extent. "David, please, you're stronger than him. Just fight it."

_I' m trying! My body won't listen! _As if to prove that point, he reached out and grabbed Raven by the neck, lifting her so high that her feet could no longer reach the ground. She coughed and sputtered for air as his hand disobeyed his command and squeezed her throat tighter. Her small fingers dug into the spaces between his knuckles, her feet kicking the air as she tried fruitlessly to kick him, but none of this phased Minotaur in the least. "I've got you, birdy."

He looked into her brown eyes. There was no fear there, but simply the silent communication that she was known for, begging him to change back. _I'm sorry, Raven. I can't._

She swung her legs a few times, ignoring the darkness that was collecting around her eyes from lack of air. She caught her heels at his elbow, but it did nothing to break his grip. Finally, with a silent apology, she rammed both her feet into his face. It was quite fortunate that David had been in his Mythic form, for Raven kicked with enough force that, had he been human, she would have taken his face right off. As it was, it was just the proper application of strength to get him to let go. Raven hit the ground, breath coming out in gasps as she tried to get her throat to work properly.

"That was very stupid, Raven." Minotaur said. Before she could think to move, to do anything, Minotaur's fist closed with the back of her head. She did not have time to register pain, for she had already blacked out.

Isabel knew someone was in her room, and she knew very well who it would be. In a sick, twisted sense, she supposed she should feel honored. Now that Raphael was filthy rich, she assumed one of his lack-wits would be coming to get her. But, no. Raphael had decided to grace her with his immediate presence.

"Raphael Alverez. I thought you'd be dead by now," Isabel said, pushing back from the computer and standing to meet the intruder.

"Thought or hoped," he replied, standing a safe distance from the girl. He pulled a chair out from the corner and helped himself to a seat, propping his feet on top Isabel's bed, lazily. "It's been a long time, Isabel. Too long. You've forgotten what power feels like."

"Spare me. I gave you enough diamonds to live out the remainder of ten lives in peace. What good am I now?"

"Well, I wouldn't say you're completely useless. After all, it was you who lead me to the other two Mythics. You don't like Siren much, do you? Her power is too much like mine. Easy to get to your head."

"Shut up, scum," Isabel snapped in a rare bout of raw emotion.

Raphael wagged his finger back and forth, as if scolding a disobedient child. "I wouldn't do that, if I were you. You know what happens when I get mad."

She had eaten her dinner by her computer that night. The empty plate still remained on her desk, looking more and more like a weapon as the seconds ticked by. She grabbed it by the edge and smashed it into several shards. The largest and sharpest one caught her eye, so she grabbed it, advancing on the pale figure in her room. "Get out of my room, you dirty rotten creature of hell!"

Raphael closed his eyes for a moment, and suddenly there was a very large black creature standing in front of him, blocking Isabel's path. It's body was long, with midnight scales that she knew were impenetrable except for the weak parts at the legs and neck. It had four legs, each adorned with razor talons, and an eagle-like head, complete with a fiercely hooked beak. Its huge, leathery wings were folded onto its back, blending with the streamlined twist of it's body.

Isabel clutched the broken shard of china tighter in her palm, not allowing her nemesis to see the fear that was freezing her heart with dread. She ducked as it's iron beak clashed in the air, directly where her head had been not a moment before. She had fought one of these furies before, and knew the best way to beat it was something sharp in the exact point on the back of the neck where the scales didn't quite form together. She ran beneath it's gnashing beak once more, this time in a perfect position for it's own demise. Without hesitation she thrust the shard in the back of its neck, making sure it was in deep. The blood burned her hands as it seeped out of the wounds, but she had been expecting that. She would much rather lose her hands than her life. "Nighty night," she whispered in its ear as it let out an ear piercing shriek, wobbling to the floor where it disappeared.

She had closed the distance to Raphael. Unfortunately, she no longer had a weapon, but she felt that she could still enjoy ripping him apart with her bare hands. "Anymore surprises?" she asked, cracking her knuckles menacingly.

"Just one," he muttered, reaching into his designer leather coat. She immediately attempted to move out of the way, but another fury had appeared at her back, halting her progression. Raphael produced a stun gun, and stunned her before she could begin to fight. As she fell to the ground, she allowed herself to change, her body becoming longer and more slender, her skin regaining it's translucent green tint. As Raphael reached down to pick her up, one of the snakes replacing her hair lashed out, clamping its teeth around his wrist.

"Damn it," he hissed, whipping his hand back. He ripped the cell phone from his pocket, and muttered to one of his countless agents through the device. "I'm going to need some back up," he muttered, before he dropped into unconsciousness on top of Isabel's lifeless form.

A.T.: HAH HAH HAH! GO ISABEL!!! I forgot about that part... she so totally rocks! Raven is so strong too. If my best friend came in mt room to beat me up, I would have zero regrets in beating him up back... but Raven tried to reason with him and...as you'll soon find out... she's not mad at him. anyway.. time for leftover pie!!!


	10. Chapter 10 Trapped

Chapter 10- Trapped

A.T.: New character!!! Hope you like him cus I think he's sweet...

Raven woke, finding herself securely duct taped to a chair. In all honesty, she would have preferred to stay unconscious, for her body felt as if it had been run through a flour mill. Her face seemed in fairly good condition, though she was having a little trouble moving her jaw due to the darkened circle adorning it. Her neck was a different story. Each time she swallowed, daggers of pain would be sent down her bruised throat. She would soon learn that talking would be very difficult.

First thing she had to do was get off of the chair. As she wriggled her body to free her hands, a sharp wrench in her side all but caused her to scream in agony. A broken rib was the cause of the pain. She decided it would be best to move gingerly, incase the rib were to puncture any of her organs.

With enough saliva and jaw power, she managed to remove the tape covering her mouth, at which time she immediately began chewing the tape on her wrists. In a small amount of time, she had one had free, but not before the door to her cell opened, revealing a young man she did not recognize.

She did not waste time in gaping, but promptly set to work on her other hand. Ignoring the thousands of skin cells she was pulling up with sticky tape, she ripped it all off. The figure was coming closer, easily crossing the distance in the small cell. With more than a touch of panic, she leaned over to free her legs, but only succeeded in sending another shoot of pain through her body.

"Here, let me," the man said. To her surprise, he knelt at her feet and began loosening the tape around her ankles. Now that she had a closer look at him, she realized that he was about the same age as herself. His face looked almost Asian, but not totally. His hair was lighter than their trade-mark black, and his eyes a clear shade of blue.

The moment the last round of tape was removed from her feet, Raven jumped up, putting the chair (the room's sole piece of furniture) between them. She moved with remarkable speed for one with a broken rib, and even managed to stand with her back completely straight, though it was killing her to do so. She wished she had put on a different pair of pajamas, for it was very hard to feel brave in an oversized t-shirt and navy blue shorts with 'angel' written across the rear. She wasn't even wearing shoes.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Just sit down." His voice was calming, but it had a pained edge to it, as if he was speaking while someone was standing on his foot.

"No. What do you want?"

He rolled his eyes. "For you to sit down." He circled the chair to her, but Raven shuffled out of his reach. Unfortunately, this movement caused her precarious balance to be lost, sending a fresh dagger of pain digging into her side. She gave a strangled cry, knees hitting the ground as she lost the fight to remain standing.

"That is why I asked you to sit down," the boy said, exasperatedly, and walked to her side. Raven, not wanting anyone but David or Isabel within four feet of her, thrust out her leg, tripping him in his advance. "Ow! What was that for!"

"Personal space," Raven choked, clutching her side. Under normal circumstances, she would have laughed. Some Jackie Chan character had just gotten slammed by a girl. Unfortunately, she was still in too much pain to enjoy the humor of the situation.

"Alright, I'll sit here, but you have to let me take a look at that rib eventually." He calmly righted himself so that he sat Indian-style, a good four feet away. Raven was pleased. "I'm John, by the way. John Li."

"I'd tell you my name, but I'm sure you already know it." Raven's voice was incredibly raspy from when David had choked her. She would need to down some serious liquids before she tried to sing.

"Of course I do. Wouldn't be much of an employee if I didn't. Your friend, Isabel caused some general pandemonium last night. One of her snakes bit Raphael, and now he's in the hospital. He never got a chance to do his Controller voodoo crap on her, so now she's being guarded by Minotaur, not that she really needs to be, since she was stunned. They ordered me to stay out of here, cause you have that controller voodoo stuff on anyone, not just Mythics, but I saw them take you in here, and you looked pretty beat up. I figured I'd give you a hand, so here I am, giving you a hand. Are you hungry? I'm starving, but I'm always hungry. Girls don't usually eat as much as guys, but you were taken before you got to eat breakfast. That would drive me nuts. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know." He said this all quite quickly, not seeming to notice the dazed look glazing Raven's eyes. How could someone talk so _fast_?

"Um... yeah," Raven said when John finally paused a moment, seemingly waiting for her to make a reply. "I am pretty hungry, actually."

"Okay," he answered, pleasantly, as if they were talking in a school cafeteria, and not in a small gray cell that Raven was being held captive in. "I had to go get some bandaging anyway, so I'll pick up food, too."

"And water," Raven interjected, quickly. He gave her a confused look, and she quickly covered the remark as innocently as possible. "You can live for three weeks without food, but barely five days without water."

He hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. "You're right. I completely forgot. Good thing you reminded me or I might not have brought any. Anything else?"

"Um... no. That'll be good."

"Okay, I'm off then." He left the room through the thick metal door, whistling as he did. She heard the slide of a lock being placed outside.

Raven didn't know how long she would have to think, so she took advantage of the time. John Li was strange, there was no doubt about it. He worked for Raphael, and yet had showed no ill will toward her. But there was time to think about that later. Right now she had to think about how to get out of here. It was a bout of fresh luck that Raphael was not present anywhere in the immediate premises, thanks to Medusa and her short tempered snakes, but she had hoped Isabel would still be at home so they could have someone to help them from the outside. Apparently, that was too much to ask for.

If they were both in Mythic form, they would no doubt be trapped. She had to figure out a way to let them change back to human, but she had no idea how. The only way she could control someone's will was if they were within listening distance of her voice, and even then it helped to make eye contact. With her neck and throat as sore as it was, there was no way she could pipe out any powerful notes. Plus, she would be competing with Raphael's own power, which was both strong and practiced. She never used her power to any real extent, and it would be hard to compete with someone so soundly practiced.

Her one shot was to just sing the power from her cell, and hope that it somehow got to Minotaur and Medusa. Then she would have to hope that she could trick this John Li character to keeping the door open. That was more David's line of expertise, but he had been her friend long enough to have picked up a few tricks.

John returned, carrying a tray stacked with food, first aid supplies, and a thermos. She hoped an aspirin was among the supplies, for her entire body seemed to be one huge, unrelenting ache. "Let's say we make a deal. I'll give you the food and water on this tray, and you let me care for that rib, and neck." Raven glared, mistrustingly, and the look all but screamed, _come within four feet of me and I'll knock your head off._ "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. Actually, in all honesty, I might have to, cause you're pretty bad off, but not intentionally, and not the way your thinking. I promise."

Raven actually laughed at this, and then groaned as it caused her body to tense up in pain. "You expect me to believe you when you've got me locked in an old cell?"

He looked hurt at this statement. "I came to help, didn't I?"

She grumbled something that remained inaudible to John, but nodded her head in compliance. "Alright, hurry up."

"Okay, sit up on your knees and hold your arms out. I'm going to wrap up your side. Er... you might want to bite your lip or something, cause it's going to hurt like hell."

Raven was about to reply that she was sure she could withstand it when he splinted and wrapped her torso so tight, a shower of sparks flicked across her vision. It took her a moment to realize that John's hand was over her mouth, a panicked look in his eyes. "I did mention that I really wasn't supposed to be here, right? Don't scream, or I'm in serious trouble."

Raven nodded, stuck a knuckle in her mouth and clamped her jaws around it to suppress the urge to yell. When he finished, he looked about as pale as she did. "I'm done. Sorry." He handed her two aspirins and the thermos of water. She took both, greedily, drinking a lot of water for just two pills. She ate the food on the tray, not knowing the next time she would get a meal, and drank the rest of the water. By the time she finished, both body and voice were remarkably stronger.

"Thank you," Raven said, and this time meant it. "Are you okay?" John's skin was still grayish, and flushed with a sheen of sweat.

"Yeah, I'll be fine in a minute. I have this thing with touching. Kind of annoying, really."

"What do you mean?"

"You have a really nice voice. Has anyone ever told you that? It's pleasant to listen to."

Raven rolled her eyes. Of course people told her that. If they weren't commenting on her voice, they were mentioning her eyes, which were quite wide, never losing the predatory shape they gained as Siren. "What's wrong with you? Why are you so pale?"

"I'm sort of psychic. I had a vision when I touched you. It was quite scary. One of Raphael's furies was chasing you, and it cut your throat."

Raven stiffened. She was not very much fond of the idea that this person could see into her memories by touching her. "It was a dream," she said, shortly. "Nothing more."

"I hate those furies. Always try to bite me when I'm working, and Raphael just laughs. Its all great fun for him; those things don't hurt him."

Raven scowled. "If you don't like them, why do you work for him?"

The pleasant smile on his face evaporated, replaced by a dark glower. "I don't have a choice. If I ever try to leave, he'll make it so that I can never find work anywhere else. He'll let me suffer for a few years, sink slowly into poverty, then have one of his guys shoot me down, or throw me over a bridge or something. No one would care if a homeless person died, and I don't have family anywhere."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," he said, regaining his energetic composure. He stood up, and cleared all the supplies back on the tray. "I better get back to work. Do yourself a favor and don't try to run away."

Raven remained silent, but once the door closed and the lock was once more slid into place, she muttered, "Yeah, right."

She did not waste time in starting to sing. She closed her eyes and let the notes flow from her tongue, feeling perfectly soft and warm as the cold room was filled with her voice. David was a familiar presence in her mind, and she had sang for him enough that she knew what he felt like. He was somewhere in the building, but quite far away. She hoped her power would still work.

_Change back, David. You're allowed to. Just change._

She had no way of knowing if it worked, and only had enough power left to make Isabel change. She started to work on the other girl's unconscious mind. It was much easier to do it on Isabel, partly because she was still unconscious, and partly because Raphael hadn't gotten a chance to use his power on her. She knew without a doubt that Isabel was once again human.

Her voice was stopped short with a strangled cry in her throat. She opened her eyes to see what had caused her voice to stop, and saw there was another person in the room. It was most definitely not John Li who was now glaring at her with dead power in his blue eyes. It was Raphael.

"I would be quiet if I were you," he said. There was a white bandage wrapped around his wrist, and his fingers seemed slightly bruised. She wondered just what kind of poison Medusa's snakes had.

"If I were you, then you'd be me, and then I'd be the one who gets to make the threats and you'd be the one who gets to kick my ass." Raven retorted, with a soft smile to herself. Twisted logic did seem to have its uses. Now she knew why Isabel loved it so much.

He closed his eyes, and a very large, very mean looking fury appeared in front of him. "That was the wrong answer."

A.T.: What will happen? What will happen? I'll be nice and give u the next chappie, but I'm expecting TONS of reviews wink


	11. Chapter 11 Ideas

Chapter 11- Ideas

A.T.: Okay so maybe u'll need one MORE chapter since this one doenst really finishe the raven problem...so... u guys are lucky its vaca!!

Isabel woke so fast, she was hit with an onslaught of nausea as she sat up. Her heart thumped in panic, making her throat constrict with fear. The last thing she remembered was changing into Mythic form to get the last word in for Raphael. She was no doubt being controlled by him right now. "No, not again!"

"Isabel, calm down. You're human. Raven made us change back." That was David speaking. She tried to move, but found herself firmly taped to a chair.

"Do you mind?" Isabel asked, noticing that both his hands and legs were free.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. Raven just made the spell for us to change back. I don't know where she is, though."

"Was she human when you took her?"

"Yeah, she changed for a little while, but realized her human bones where stronger. Wait, how did you know I took her."

Isabel rolled her eyes. "I've dealt with Raphael before. Using you to capture your best friend is definitely something he would enjoy. Tell me, did you beat her to a pulp, knock her out cold, or hang her out the window until she screamed and cried for mercy."

David gulped. He was very willing to crawl into a hole and die for betraying his best friend, but felt that she deserved more than a coward of a friend, especially when she had figured out a way to get them to change back. "She didn't cry," he said, finally.

"Raphael is capable of much worse, so consider Raven lucky."

David knew just how much strength he could carry in a single punch, and felt that Raven was a little less then lucky. "What did you do to your hands?"

"Huh? Oh." She looked down at her palms and found the skin a raw shade of red. She flexed her fingers experimentally, and found it extremely painful. She had been expecting worse though. The fact that she wasn't now looking at the skeletal make up of her fingers was greatly reassuring. "A fury's blood is acidic. You might want to keep that in mind if you ever have to fight one."

"What do we do now? Do you have a plan."

Isabel laughed hard. "Do I have a plan? Do I have a plan?" Isabel knew how to run away, and stay just out of reach of her followers. She was about as clueless as David when it came getting out of something. "This really sucks," she stated finally.

He shrugged. "Whatever. We can't use our Mythic forms. I don't know if Raven can make us change back again."

"Okay, empty your pockets. What have we got to use?"

David turned his pockets inside out. He had his car keys on a chain, a wallet with no money, a crumbled piece of scrap paper he had been doodling on, and a pack of gum. He looked on it with forlorn. "Not much. What have you got?"

Isabel would have replied that girl's jeans were made for fashion, not actually carrying stuff, which is why girls carried purses. She kept the remark to herself and emptied her own pockets. All she had was eighty six cents. "I wish I had my bag. That has enough crap in it to break in or out of any jail. Right now, we're screwed."

David was picking up the odd items on the floor, jingling the change in his hand and sifting through his wallet. "Isabel, can you turn an inanimate object into stone without becoming a gorgon?"

Isabel looked highly insulted. "Of course I can."

David took the thousands of receipts from his wallet, and piled them on top of the scrap paper. He carried the scraps with him to the door, examining the lock as he did so. After a few moments' time, he successfully fashioned the papers into a makeshift key. "Here, turn this into stone. We'll see if it fits in the lock."

"What kind of stone?"

David made a noise half-way between exasperation and nervousness. "Any kind."

"Alright, alright. Don't get so touchy." She opened her mouth slightly, feeling the invisible stone form on her tongue. She wanted a strong stone, one that could withstand a beating. Marble. A single word couldn't describe it's taste. It was simply a perfect blend of salty and sweet, like pretzels with ice-cream or peanut butter with chocolate. She held it on her tongue a moment, savoring the taste, then opened her eyes to direct it to the paper key resting in her hands. The flimsy material strengthened under her fingers. She handed the completed key to David, admiring his quick thinking. She wouldn't have thought of that.

"Thank you. And now, does my ingenious plan work?" He slid the key into the slot and twisted it. The sound of the lock sliding into place had to be the best noise they had ever heard. Isabel hurried over to him, eager to be out of the windowless, jail-like cell forever, but David halted her. "Get the rest of that stuff. Start chewing the gum."

Isabel gathered the rest of the items, and stuffed three pieces of chewing gum in her mouth. "Why am I chewing gum, again?"

David helped himself to half the pack. "The moment they open the door, they'll know we've gotten out. If we put gum in the lock, they won't be able to open it. They'll just figure Raphael boosted the security or changed the lock or something."

Isabel chewed with renewed vigor. David seemed to be quite a beneficial partner. Again, she would not have thought of that. "Okay, spit." She held out her hand and he spat a substantial sized wad into it. Isabel joined her own gum with it. "Okay, hurry, before it starts sticking to my hand."

They both walked through the door, then Isabel curled her hand around it and stuck the gum deep into then lock. Once the door was closed, David locked it once more for good luck, then cleaned the gum from the sides of door. "Okay, we're set. How are we going to find Raven?"

Isabel gave him a disbelieving look. "I thought you came up with the ideas?" She winced at the pained look he gave her, and realized it was eating him alive that he had been the cause of Raven's capture. "Okay, first thing we have to do is get some kind of uniform so they'll think we belong here. Hopefully it involves a hat." She looked down at her bare feet. "And shoes. But we need to think of a safe way to get to that room. I doubt they'll let us walk around the halls freely."

David thought a moment, then said, "What if I changed back to Minotaur. They'll think I'm still being controlled by Raphael."

Isabel crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a look. "And what if you actually begin to be controlled by Raphael?"

He shrugged. "Do you have any better ideas?" When she shook her head, he allowed himself to changed into his Mythic form. He placed an enormous hand on the back of Isabel's neck, and she tensed. "Relax. I'm still me," he rumbled.

They walked a short while, and passed a few people, but they seemed reassured when they saw David in his Mythic form. It was clear a convenient room filled with janitorial uniforms was not going to be found. They walked in a complete circle, ending up at the exact point they had worked so hard to get away from. Any rooms they found were empty and collecting dust. Apparently, whatever building they resided in, this floor was not a very used on. There were no stairs, but rather elevators along every five foot of space. Unfortunately, the elevator required some sort of identification.

"I've got it." Isabel said, slightly irked at their lack of good fortune. "Next person we come by, you knock out. Then we grab his ID, and take his shoes." Although Isabel didn't particularly mind walking barefoot, it did make her stick out a little.

Although he knew she was only joking, Minotaur knew that that would be their best bet. "Great idea. What would I do without you?"

It was a sign at how their fortune changed, in that another employee walked by them. He looked at Minotaur questioningly, but was never given the chance to voice a remark, for a solid fist had closed with his skull. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

"Ouch," Isabel commented, searching his pockets. His ID card was hanging from a rope around his neck, and was quickly confiscated. This person might have some other useful goodies, though.

David changed back to human, another idea sparking in his brain. "Give me his lab coat. I can wear it. And you can take his shoes. Hurry up!"

Not bothering to question him, she pulled the man's shoes off. Fortunately, they were sneakers, and she could tie them tight enough so they wouldn't fall off. Unfortunately, even with the laces, they were still extremely large. "Okay, let's hit the elevator."

They hurried to one, and swiped the plastic card through, praying that it would work. The silver door opened without trouble, and they both hurried in.

"Okay, what's the master plan?" Isabel asked. She was quickly learning that David's brain thought in a different, almost backward, way. This was quite useful when it came to running for you life, keeping out of the way of people who would keep you alive just as long as you still served a purpose.

He snorted. "I don't have a master plan. I just keep making this up as I go." He was staring at the other man's ID, and his own driver's license. "Alright, I have to get the picture from my license onto this dude's ID. Any ideas."

"Fake ID? I thought you'd give me something challenging." Isabel said. "Give me a paperclip and a penny." David supplied both, and Isabel took both the cards, scratching away. By turning all of the license into stone, the photograph simply slid off on its own accord. Holding the thin picture between makeshift paperclip tweezers, she attached it to the top of the other man's ID, sealing it with liquid stone beneath it. She then used the penny to smooth out the edges. The finished product was a virtually undetectable fake. "Welcome to the staff, Mr.," she paused to read the name. "I mean, Doctor Cornelius Thorpe."

David strung the card around his neck by the rope that it was held on. "You will be my assistant, Sarah Johnson. Overworked and underpaid, waiting for your chance to hit it with the big boys. Since your so new, you're not allowed to have an ID pass. You go where I let you."

Isabel smiled. "You are a genius."

"Couldn't do it without you, Sarah. Now, let's see what Dr. Thorpe likes to carry in his pockets. We've got a some funky remotes, a key for- Damn! He drives a Jaguar. Um.. oh, this could be promising." He unfolded a piece of paper looking over its contents.

"What is it?"

"It's a floor layout. Wow, this building is huge! According to this, we are in sub-basement B. Considering Raven is potential competition for Raphael, he would keep her away from everyone else. The lowest level is sub-basement E."

Isabel pressed the corresponding number on the elevator pad. "Going down."


	12. Chapter 12 Old Friends

Chapter 12- Old friends

A.T.: GO RAVEN! GO RAVEN! GO RAVEN! heehee. I'm shutting up now. thats all u get for now..

Raven stared into the gold, slit eyes of the fury. She remembered Isabel saying that the dreams she had was just Raphael getting into her brain and making her live her worst fear. Raven's fear was to not be heard, and this creature seemed only too happy to make the nightmare a reality.

Her first instinct was to back up, but in this plane square room, she would only succeed in cornering herself. _Think, think, THINK! _She ordered herself. There had to be something she could do. Anything then just standing there, waiting for that thing to come and chomp her into a before dinner snack. It was all well and good thinking such thoughts, but when one is faced with a horrific monster from nightmares, the body and mind don't always synchronize as well as they should.

The fury clashed it's beak together, painfully close to Raven's face. The smell of its breath, a putridly sweet stink, like a rotting corpse, was just the thing she needed to jump start her brain and body into action. _Don't kill the fury. Get to the source._

She looked to Raphael, who was staring with a bored expression on his gaunt face, and, and made her decision. Forgetting that she was suffering from a broken rib, (you forget a lot of things when you're in a showdown with the cross of a dragon and an eagle) she dove beneath the fury's feet, moving just in time to avoid being stomped by its razor sharp claws.

She came face to face with the vampire-looking boy, whose face was molded into an expression of complete shock from the recent course of events. His furies had never failed to instill fear and doubt into people, and here was this short, skinny girl who had just gotten passed it without a scratch. His fury was dancing around in confusion, trying to find the girl that it still believed was under its belly.

Raven watched this with a moment's satisfaction, then grinned savagely at Raphael. "Lucy! I'm home!" Without a clue as to why she had quoted that particular television show, but knowing it had been great fun to say it, she drew back her fist and punched Raphael square on the nose. "Damn, that felt good!" she said, massaging her knuckles as her captor lost his balance and fell on his rear, clutching his bleeding nose. Losing his concentration, the prancing fury disappeared as if it never had been.

She knelt by his side, bringing her lips close to her ear as she whispered, "Never mess with a dancer. You savvy?" When Raphael didn't respond, too busy trying to staunch the blood flowing from his broken nose, she gave a very loud screech in his ear. He yelped in pain, suddenly not sure whether his nose or ears were in more agony. "I'll take that as a yes."

Not a moment later, the door opened once more, this time revealing the duel form of David and Isabel. Isabel took a look around, noticed the broken remains of the chair (which the fury had trampled in his little tap dance), the torn up bits of tape, and Raphael's freely bleeding nose and nodded appreciatively. "I see we're not needed here. Nice work."

"Thank you," Raven said.

"You look like crap," Isabel commented.

Raven rolled her eyes. Same old snake. "Yeah, so do your hands."

David ignored Isabel and wrapped his friend in a tight hug. "Raven, I'm so sorry! I tried to stop but Raphael wouldn't let me."

"David! You're choking me! I have a broken rib. Be nice."

He put her down quickly, looking even more apologetic. "Sorry."

Isabel rolled her eyes. There was time enough for apologies and sentimental moments later. As it was, they were still within the grasp of the enemy. That was not a good thing. She took the torn remains of duct tape from the floor, and none-to-gently tied Raphael's hands behind his back. She had turned the weak tape into stone before he could try to wriggle free, then repeated the process on his ankles.

"I'll ged you Isabel! Don' thunk I wont." Raphael's threats were slightly diminished from the lack of speech.

"Save it, sweetheart. Where's your cell phone?"

"Why would I tebb you?"

David reached down and pulled the silver device from his belt. "I'm thinking the only way to get out of here is to keep something they want close by," David said, examining the phone. He clapped Raphael's shoulder, fondly. "The ransomed are now the captors. I love irony."

"Sbeag for yourself."

David handed the phone to Isabel. "What can you do with this?"

Isabel sighed, and flipped open the device, steadily tapping away at the keys. "Nice encryptions, Raphael. You've updated." She tapped away, smiling as she got past the thousands of paranoid designs her nemesis had added. To give him credit, they were fairly good privacy devices, but were most definitely not Isabel-proof. She had never found a computer she couldn't get into, and this handheld gadget with add-on mobile phone extras was no different.

"Okay then, you obviously had some lovely plans for us," Isabel commented, the little compassion she resided in her heart for Raphael freezing as she read his agenda. Apparently, he didn't want them for money, like she originally thought. He wanted them as the perfect weapons (which would of course lead to money once selling time rolled around). "We're going to cancel those, and send an apology to your buyer. You weren't able to meet his demands, and your- erm- volunteers seemed to have disappeared. What else? Oh, the workers. Well, they are all going to experience a blip in their computers. Every single one of them are going to crash. That means the security cams are next to useless, aren't they? I'm surprised you put such a gadget in here. Don't you trust your workers?"

"Come on, Isabel," Raven said. "Quit gloating and hurry up."

"Done and done," Isabel said, snapping the phone closed. "I'm keeping this, though."

"Alright, let's move. Raven, can we have a song for invisibility?"

She nodded to David, already beginning the song. Actual invisibility in her human form was impossible, and she would not risk becoming Siren for her own assurance. She could make it so that anyone who passed them was simply not interested in looking their way. One might glance their way briefly, but soon become intrigued by some other idea inkling the back of their brain.

David tossed Raphael over his shoulder. He had a feeling that they would need some means of bargaining for transportation, invisibility or not. It didn't occur to him that his charge was putting up a very limited amount of struggle. He assumed it was because the little twerp had succumbed to defeat. Isabel was much too busy playing with the computer to notice.

They reached the elevator, and David was about to swipe his card through when Isabel stopped him. "Wait, there's a fix on the dude's ID. He must have woken up and cancelled his name."

"So how do we open the elevator?" David asked. Raven would have said it, but she was still singing.

"Well, if you give me a second," Isabel said, slightly irked. She tapped at the small computer a moment, and the silver doors suddenly slid open. "I have got to get one of these."

As they entered the elevator, Raven silenced her song a moment to save her voice. It didn't have nearly the same strength as it could have, partly from her throat being quite sore, and partly from just recently using her a lot of her power to get her friends to change back to human. She saved her voice while she could.

"Okay, what do we do when we get up there? Just trust Raven's spelly thingy and walk out the front door?"

David shrugged. "I told you. I'm making this up as I go."

Isabel copied his shrug, then gave a look to Raven. "Don't screw up. Our freedom is in your hands."

"But no pressure," she responded, the beginnings of queasy fright churning her stomach. The elevator pinged as it reached the ground floor, and Raven once more began the song as the door opened.

There was the door, in plain sight. The glass panes were tinted, so people could see out but no one could see in. Three of them seemed for incoming traffic, three for outgoing. Any person going either way had to slide the ID card through a console to unlock the door.

"Isabel?" David asked.

"Not a problem. Just jump over the console and slide through while the door opens for another person. We're still invisible right?"

Raven nodded, looking slightly insulted.

"Alright, then. Let's move."

David moved to go first, since he still had Raphael, but stopped in confusion. Raphael had _disappeared._ He had been on his shoulder one minute, and then he was just gone.

Raven saw the entire room of people turn, and David heard the round of clicks move in unison. Isabel could taste the apprehension and ill-will on the air like acid. Not a word needed to be said for the silent communication to be passed between the three of them. Duck! They only just avoided getting hit with several electric stunners. Isabel turned them to stone before any could touch them.

"A plan?" Isabel asked, hopefully.

David knuckled his head to try to force one more idea from his brain. "Are we still invisible."

Raven nodded, and mimed shooting a gun, then covering her eyes. Charades would have to suffice when their only defense was not being seen.

"They're shooting blind? Damn! Okay, what happened to Raphael?"

Raven had a guess, but knew her friend wouldn't like it. She mimed casting a spell. "Magic? An illusion? How? Okay, don't need to know now. Isabel, did you grab those foils from the gum?"

"Yeah. Here." She dug in her pockets for the silver foils.

"Crumble those and anything else we've got into balls, turn them to stone, and throw them under their feet. Raven, if I leave your side, I'll still be invisible."

Raven would have screamed that she would never even be able to talk again with the amount of work she was doing. She was making every single pair of eyes in this room simply slide over their hunched forms. Now he wanted to run around, too. She didn't say that, though. She simply nodded.

"Okay, on three. Raven, keep singing, no matter what. One, two-"

Isabel gripped the marble sized balls in her hand, and finished the count. "Three!" She threw the balls to the floor, and just like in a cartoon, the people, recharging their stun guns for another shot, stumbled on the slick surface and hit the ground. Raven was already helping her make more.

David took a running charge for one of the shooters, knocking him down with a solid fist. He stunned the next target with his own gun, and kicked another's feet from under him.

"David! Watch out behind you!" Isabel screamed.

He turned, and only just avoided the cord of another stun gun. Unfortunately, while his attention was turned, Raven's voice finally gave out from exertion, ending in a breathless rasp. Each were stunned before they could have a chance to react.


	13. Chapter 13 Experiments

Chapter 13- Experiments

A.T: Hallelujiah! Its back! It took a while, and some serious cleverness (not rly. lol) but i finally got the Mythics file un-deleted. Here's a whole slew of chpts since u were so patient. also, i posted another story (Faerie Tale under... doi... fairy tales) There is one incredibly long chpt, so i'd love if u'd check it out. also, make sure u always check my reviews, cus i sometimes leave little notes for u guys there, if i forget to put it in my author's note

All three Mythics woke at the same time, thoroughly wishing for a bottle of aspirin. They were in a hospital-like room, laying on plain cots with a generous amount of tabs and wires stuck to their arms, holding them to beeping and chirping machines. Unlike a normal hospital bed, these cots were complete with leather straps binding their arms and legs firmly to the sides.

"Morning, glory," Isabel commented, dryly. She tried to wriggle her hands out of the leather binds, but they were buckled so tight she only succeeded in rupturing her burned hands. "Any ideas?"

David wracked his brain. He really did, but no idea bestowed itself. "I've got nothing. Raven?"

He turned his head, and saw that Raven was trying to speak. Her voice was too used to make a sound, though. The only noise that passed her lips was a nearly inaudible whisper. It was fortunate that David's ears were so keen, or he wouldn't be able to hear her at all. "I'll do about anything as long as I don't have to sing." She gave a very forced laugh, but David heard the pain that it masked.

"Speak up, Raven," Isabel snapped. "This is no time for secrets."

"She can't," David replied for his friend. "She lost her voice."

Isabel muttered something about needing to find it again, but it wasn't loud enough for Raven to hear. "So, what do we do now?"

David didn't reply. His brain, which was able to give him any answer he wanted, couldn't seem to give him a way to solve this particular problem. He was saved from sinking into self-pity, by Raven. She tapped him on the shoulder. "Raven, I don't know anything. I'm out of- wait, how did you get out?"

She gave a smile and a shrug. She had changed for the briefest of seconds into her Mythic form, her wrists becoming mere feathers. The straps simply slid off, allowing her to change back and untie her feet. She didn't say this though, but promptly began working on David's binds.

Her progression was stopped short, however, as the door suddenly slammed open. Several armed men entered the room, instantly ganging up on Raven. They grabbed her by the hair, wrenching her head back and causing her to stumble. Her weak voice did nothing to protect her, but even if she did have that power, it would not phase these particular agents. Their ears were plugged, and eyes covered with mirrored sunglasses, preventing both Raven and Isabel's powers from penetrating.

Even without her voice, Raven was not entirely helpless. She had enough brains in her head to know where to hit and when to duck, and she was much faster than them. She kicked backwards with her barefoot, and she heard her captor give a sharp intake of breath, loosening his grip on her hair. She instantly pulled away, leaping onto the bed that David was laying on.

"Ideas?" she whispered.

"Just one. Don't get caught."

"You are so helpful."

Calling on her years of dance and gymnastics training, she took a running jump at one man, flipping in midair and landing in a handstand on his shoulders. The poor agent, completely disoriented by this strange course of action, did not realize a foot was coming at his nose until he was already unconscious.

Unfortunately, no matter how many strikes she managed to get in, the room was crowded with trained and drilled agents, whom, using the force of sheer numbers, pinned her to the floor like a moth on a board. No matter how much she screamed and cursed and struggled, it was her ninety pound body against several other forms laden with muscle, armor, and guns.

Raphael entered through the open door, the door that was mere feet from where she was pinned. Is she could just get free, she would be gone and back with help before you could say 'Mythic Blood.' "Raven, did you really think I would let you get away?" He placed two bruised fingers beneath her chin, lifting her head up. She spat in his face. "What do you hope to gain from that?" When Raven did not reply, he gave a slow, arrogant smile. "Used all of your voice, did you? That's why it's better to be a Controller. You can't overuse your brain."

Isabel shot an insult from her position on the bed. "You can. You overused it on your thirteenth birthday and it's stopped working since then."

Raphael ignored the comment. "As you were the first to get free, you are my first volunteer. Congratulations." He brought his face by her ear, preparing to gloat. "By the way, did you enjoy that illusion? You never really punched me, it was an image create by Oracle." He relished at her confused stare. "You know Oracle. His birth name is John Li."

She mouthed an expression very slowly and very clearly. "Fuck you."

He sighed. "If I had a nickel every time I heard that, I'd be rich. Then again, I already am. Okay boys, get off of her. Take her to the other room. Everything has already been set up."

David's wrists were freely bleeding from trying to break his bonds. "If you hurt her, I will kill you."

Both Raven and Isabel cringed at this display of male dominance, but kept their mouths shut. Raphael gave a very exaggerated sigh. "David, I will do nothing to her that I will not also do to you and Isabel. Does this comfort you?"

No, it did not.

Raven was half lead, half dragged to an adjoining room, this one looking more like an experiment lab. She realized it was she they would be experimenting on, and put up an extra effort behind her struggle for freedom, but it was all in vain. She was quickly handcuffed to a solid steel post in the center of the room.

"Here is the agreement," Raphael said, speaking as if to a business associate. "My Mythic power is not particularly useful, but your gifts could be quite beneficial to the continuation of my businesses. So, if you change now, you could discontinue the pain both of us will have to go through to get you to change in the first place."

Raven's voice was the merest of whispers as she spoke. "What do you want me for?"

Raphael sighed, dramatically, beginning to shuffle through the numerous gadgets on the other desk. "Unlike you're two dimensional mind, I can see uses for you that will cause people to bow down to me in submission. Alone, each of you are quite strong, but together-" He paused for emphasis. "Together you would be unstoppable."

Raven was speechless with rage. "A weapon? You want us for a weapon!"

"Not just any weapon. An unstoppable fighting team that will leave the world at my fingertips. So, what say you? Will you become the beautiful Siren and help me willingly in this quest, or make this difficult for me."

She glared defiance, but kept her mouth clamped shut.

Raphael sighed. "I was afraid it would come to this. Boys," he beckoned to an odd team of scientists and mercenaries alike. "You know what to do."

A hunched man in a lab coat approached her, holding a vial of a vibrant colored liquid. She realized they would try to make her drink whatever was in that glass, and clamped her jaw closed. Raphael kindly came up behind her and dug his fingers into the joint of her mandible, forcing her jaw open so the scientist could tip the foul tasting liquid in her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but Raphael placed a pale, but surprisingly strong, hand across her mouth, preventing the action.

In barely a moment's time, the mysterious potion began to take effect. Raven's knees suddenly collapsed from under, her head lolling on her arms as the muscles in her neck refused to support it. Far from being unconscious, she screamed at her body to move, to do something! It did not obey.

Raphael came once more to her side, beginning to unlock the handcuffs. "Its a paralyzing agent, causing all motor functions to simply shut down. Don't worry, though. It will wear off in a couple hours. Now, to business. Bear in mind, the moment you change, all of this can stop."

Raven wanted to ask what 'this' would be, but felt she would know soon enough, anyway. No sooner had she finished the thought, then a booted foot flew out of no where, hitting her injured rib and causing her to scream in pain. Someone else stomped on her hand, and she could feel the bones in her fingers strain beneath the pressure. She bit her lip against the pain, not willing to show Raphael the satisfaction of her displeasure.

It was only a few minutes that they beat her, but it could have been hours for the amount of pain it induced. These were trained professionals who knew exactly where to hit with exactly the right amount of pressure to cause excruciating pain, and at the same time, keep the victim alive. She squinted at her attackers through puffy red eyes, and saw them drawing away. Her hear inflated with a slim ray of hope, then shriveled back down to nothingness when she saw its was the scientists turn to administer punishment.

If anything, their chemicals and vapors were worse then a foot in the stomach. Some would cause a slow, crawling pain that would start at merely a muscle cramp then intensify until sparks showered in front of her dim vision. She couldn't remember where she was or even who. There had to be something she could do to stop the thick weights pressing against her lungs, or the sharp agony knifing into her entire body. Her legs would not obey her command to stand up and run and hide. They simply clenched in relentless torture. Her hands were gripped into tight fists, her entire body stiff as it fought off the pain. She could barely breathe beyond short gasps.

"Change, Raven. Just change." Who was that speaking? "It will stop once you change." If the voice could make it stop, she would do anything. She would grovel at the voice's feet, follow his every whim if he could only cease her misery.

From some deep, untapped source of strength, she could hear another voice in her head. It was most definitely not her own, but it was not the other one, either. The one that told her to change with a little too much eagerness in his voice. _Fight it! Stay strong! Do not change!_ Why shouldn't she change? The voice said it would stop the pain, and the voice had to be right. _The voice is wrong! Listen to me! Trust me, I will help you!_

Above all the agony of her body, she felt a sharp prick in her arm, and suddenly the pain was gone. Her body still ached, but she could move (barely) and think. She had been so close to changing, giving Raphael her entire soul! Who had stopped her?

She turned her head slightly, and could see the Eurasian boy- what was his name? Raphael called him Oracle, but he was introduced as John. "Stop, Raphael," he said. "What use is that girl to you if she is dead?"

Her eyes might as well be blindfolded for the amount of use they were. She could vaguely see Raphael shrugging casually. "I guess I could start on the other ones. Take her back to the other room."

John placed one hand under her arm and lifted her up, but the sudden movement caused her stomach to churn, leaving her vomiting all over the floor. She was pleased when a decent amount of bile got on Raphael's clothes.

Back in the room, Raven saw that both David and Isabel had freed themselves from their bonds, but could find no way to get out of the room. They both rushed to her side when John placed her on the bed and she collapsed in exhaustion.

David was crying. "Raven, I'm so sorry. I brought you here. I should have fought Raphael more. Should have done something."

Isabel took a hint from Raven's glare and silenced David. "There's time enough for who's to blame later. What did they do?"

John spoke for Raven's behalf. "They couldn't get her to change. You will both soon look a lot like this." The rapidly speaking boy from before had disappeared, died when he saw the torture that an innocent girl had gone through. He hadn't been able to help, Oracles didn't have much in the way of fire power, but he had stopped Raphael from killing her. _Not that she looks far from it,_ he noted to himself.

"Who are you," Isabel hissed, already allowing rock to form on her tongue. She clamped her mouth shut when she realized he was also a Mythic, and she would have to become Medusa for the rock to actually form on him. She was not wiling to do that with Raphael so close.

"There's no time," John said. "Raphael will not take long to set things up again. You must listen to me. Do not change. No matter what happens, stay human or you are lost. Do you understand?"

Both nodded, but David was still too upset to voice any questions. Isabel spoke for the three of them. "What does he plan to do?"

"He wants you as a weapon." He looked to David. "You are next. I will help you as much as I can, but my powers are not very substantial."

Raven pushed herself up on her elbows, though it pained her greatly to do so. "Raphael's power doesn't work on me."

The three of them stared until Isabel broke the silence. "What is going on in your head! Where you hit too many times? You never changed. How could you know if his power worked."

She took a deep breath, and though her voice was but a faint rasp, it held extreme confidence. "I just know. I don't know how that will help us, but it's something."

David looked at Raven, her pale face a paint palette of bruises and her petite body trembling as she fought to hold up her own weight. Even her hair seemed dulled of passion. When once it would shine like a fiery beacon, the redness now seemed muted and dull with tiredness. She had a slim hope to hold on to. He would not take that away from her, even though his mastermind brain had quit producing ideas to back their strengths up with. "Yeah, it's something."

Raphael entered once more, grinning at David and Isabel. "I'm not one to go against my word, so David can go next. I'm saving the best for last," he added, with a wink at Isabel. She gave him a look that could have burned him in hot oil if that was what her paranormal ability was.

"You're wearing contacts," Isabel commented, flexing and clenching her burned hands to keep them from getting too stiff. "Why? Are you afraid to turn into stone?"

Raphael's grin widened. "Yes, rather ingenious isn't it. The contacts are tinted, so your power won't work on me. Life is full of surprises, isn't it?"

Isabel copied his grin, both there was a rather hard edge to it. "How could you forget my snakes so quickly. You won't survive the poison a second time."

His grin faded, his face darkening into a thoughtful scowl. "I change my mind. Let's take these two together. It could be fun."

Raven tried to sing a son of power, but John pressed his hand over her mouth, muttering softly, "Save your voice. We'll need it." She grit her teeth as the two were lead to the other room, but knew that John was right. She was slowly beginning to gain a little more force in her voice, but that didn't mean she should blow it all before they had a plan.

"What are you waiting around here for?" she snapped. "I'm fine! Go help them!"

Surprised at the amount of authority such a small creature could hold, he nodded, and left the room.

Both David and Isabel were given the paralyzing agent, then thoroughly beaten and poisoned before Raphael began to lose his patience. Despite their screams of pain, they seemed to be constantly tapping into a fresh source of strength, keeping them stubbornly human. He did not want them dead, yet waiting for their strength to break so they would change into their Mythic form was becoming intensely boring. Just when he thought he had it, that they would both change, they would reach for the other's hand and hold onto it like a lifeline. _How sweet,_ he thought, bitterly. _They're in love._ Damn, this was taking too long! He had promised his associate three killing machines by the end of the week. At this rate, it would take a month to get them to change, if they didn't die first.

"Stop!" There was that blasted John again. If his visions weren't incredibly useful, he would have disposed of the boy years earlier. As it was, he had to put up with John's irritating mannerisms, like talking too fast and making pointless jokes. The price to pay for riches.

"What is it, now?" Raphael asked. "Please staunch tat bleeding heart of yours. This is business, not torture."

"They're almost dead. I thought you might want to know."

Raphael nodded to the scientists, and they gave them the antidote. As the effects of the poison ebbed from their bodies, the two Mythics kept a white knuckled grip on the other's hand. Disgusting. Isabel, _his_ Isabel, was becoming a romantic.

A thought began to itch it's way into his skull. If it was one thing he knew how to do, it was play to a person's weakness. That would give him at least one of the Mythics, but which one? It took him only a moment to decide. Isabel. She had the greater price on her powers, plus he had a score to settle with her. He looked down at his purple fingertips. Oh, yes. Isabel would be the one.

"Take David into one of the environmental test rooms, and make sure this one has windows," Raphael ordered.

No one even questioned his judgment. They dragged David to the appropriate room, and he put up little resistance, his body still overcoming the torture it had been put through. He was locked inside the small glass room, and Isabel was carried to where she could see him through the window.

Raphael came close to her, and she grit her teeth as he began to whisper in her ear. "You see him there? The rules are still the same. You become Medusa and it stops."

She turned her head and spat in his face, though she would have found much more satisfaction in simply crushing his bones into nothingness. "I am not changing, no matter what you do to me." Her voice had a pained edge to it, despite the brave words.

He smiled. "What makes you think we'd do anything more to you? You are the money-maker. He is expendable. See this room, it is truly a remarkable device. Not only can you simulate weather phenomena in it, you can also bleed all the oxygen out of it, making your friend choke on his own carbon dioxide. Fascinating, isn't it?" He turned and beckoned to one of the scientists, who began flipping switches outside the room. David began panting for air. "You know the rules."

_Don't breathe so much! Please, David, figure out a plan. I can't watch you die. Not if I can stop it. David, please!_ She could see his chest laboring to inhale the minimal amount of oxygen in the room, his eyes darting around the room in panic. Somehow, she managed to stand up and pound her hands against the glass, and he looked right at her as his lungs heaved for air. _What do you want me to do,_ her eyes asked.

It was so brief, Isabel wasn't even entirely sure she saw it, but there was the smallest sparkle of hope in his eyes. He gave a tiny shake of his head, and sent her and equally expressive look, _I'm fine. I can breathe. _

Isabel looked around and saw John, standing by the desk of buttons, subtly clicking away at the multitude of switches. She could only hope that he was making it so David could have more oxygen and that his new position of lying on the floor was simply an act.

Raphael returned to her side. "You will let him die for your own stupid pride? What happened to the hero of self-sacrifice?"

Isabel gulped. David was lying extremely still. How could she be sure she could trust this Oracle? "She died," Isabel said softly, still staring at David's motionless form.

"Well, so has he. I am most disappointed in you."

Isabel was crying, her gray eyes bloodshot as tears ran down her face. He couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. She had trusted Oracle, she had trusted herself. There was no way he was dead.

A balding man in his fifties opened the cell's door, and dragged David's still body out. Isabel choked. He would have moved by now! She had made the wrong decision! She should have just became Medusa and bite them all.

The moment the doors closed, David sprang to life, knocking several people with a solid fist before the could even begin to defend themselves. Isabel could have died with joy. With some untapped source of strength, she stood up once more, and half ran, half stumbled to David. Without warning, she grabbed his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. She had been waiting a very long time to do that, and she was afraid she had missed her chance.

He pulled away, looking very confused. "What was that for?"

"An apology," she replied.

"For what?"

"This." She swung her hand and slapped him sharply across the face, then brought it back to rap her knuckles along the other side. "How could you do that to me! I thought you were dead! I thought I screwed up, and the price was your life! How could-" Her rant was cut short as David returned Isabel's favor and kissed her. Suddenly, it didn't matter that they were standing in a room of armed mercenaries and ethic-lacking scientists. Who cared that Raphael would figure out another way to make them change, and wanted to use them as the perfect weapon. They sure didn't.

Raphael Alverez growled in disgust, taking a clipboard from the nearest person and viciously throwing it on the ground. _Damn it! That didn't work either_. He beckoned to John. "Take them out of here. I need to think of something else." Somehow, both David and Isabel managed to walk by themselves, finding a new source of strength within each other.

As they entered the room once more, Raven took one look at David, then at Isabel, and somehow saw past their bruised faces. "Were you two making out?"

David grinned. Raven never missed a trick.


	14. Chapter 14 the great escape

Chapter 14- The Great Escape

The kiss that Isabel and David had shared seemed to jumpstart the planning part of his brain. After a few minutes of gauging each of their strengths, and Isabel finally was finally assured that John was indeed on their side, David's criminal master-mind plan was all but completed. It required only one thing. "Are you sure Raphael can't control you in Mythic form."

Raven nodded for the thousandth time. "I don't know how I know, but our powers are very much alike. I know I'm not very strong, but his power just slides off of me." Her voice was remarkably stronger thanks to John, who was constantly running for lozenges, herbal tea, and water.

Slowly, David reviewed the plan, making sure everyone knew what to do. It depended entirely on Raven being able to change, and act as if she were under Raphael's control. Both David and Isabel helped her to know the right way to act. "You still talk normally, and you throw him shots and make fun of other people if that's what you usually do," Isabel said. "But when his voice sounds in your head, telling you to do something, you don't kick his ass like you want to. You do it."

"We need to come up with some sort of signal so we know you're still you," John said so fast, it sounded more like one word.

Raven popped another lozenge in her mouth. "If I think that Raphael is getting a hold of me, I'll fall."

David shook his head. "No offense, but when you're not in the air, you're fairly clumsy as Siren. You trip all the time because of your strange feet. Just ruffle your wings every couple minutes. If ten minutes go by and you haven't stretched your wings or something, we'll assume Raphael has you."

The door clicked as it unlocked, and everyone moved to their positions. John cleared away the drinks and cough drops and stashed them under one of the machines, then took a place by the door, gaining a cold look in his eyes. He would pretend to be guarding them. The other three Mythics would pretend to be collapsed in exhaustion on their beds, not that it took too much acting skill to accomplish it. Raphael entered.

"Raven, it is your turn once more. You survived the first round of torture, but the second will be worse."

Raven's eyes widened in fear as she pushed herself up with effort. "No, please. I can't do it again."

Raphael came toward her. "You know the rules. All you have to do is change and this can all stop."

Her eyes darted over to her friends, looking for something she would never find. She wanted for them to say it was alright, and she could change of she wanted to. She got no such look.

"Raven, you can't! He'll use you! Just stay strong," David yelled.

"If I see one red feather you're going to wish Rafey just tortured you," Isabel threatened.

"I'm sorry." Raven closed her eyes, and felt her bones hollow, the joints in her foot stretch and change with that in her arms and hands. In barely a moment's time, Siren sat in the place that Raven once had.

Immediately, she heard Raphael's voice in her head, _do whatever I tell you to._ She yawned and stretched her enormous wings. Besides for the voice in her head, there was nothing. No power at all. Inwardly, she grinned. She loved being right.

Raphael's face stretched into a smile. "If you would please, Siren, give me a kiss."

Both David and Isabel cringed, knowing there was no way Siren would do it, plan or not. Raphael knew it, too. It was the ultimate test of control.

Siren ruffled her wings, and walked toward Raphael. Quickly, very quickly, she brushed her lips against his, silently thinking, _I'll get you for that one._ If possible, his smile grew wider. "Follow me, please."

"Of course," Siren said pleasantly, giving her wings another shake.

He lead her down a hall and into his office. Just as John had described it, the back wall was not but a huge window, made of thick glass. She examined from a distance and smiled. Oh yeah, this would be easy.

Raphael sat at his desk and began typing on the computer. She watched his fingers move with her intense brown eyes, memorizing the passwords. There were several. "I just need to email my associate saying everything is going according to plan. I'll be done in a moment."

Siren sat on the edge of the desk, examining her bare feet. "What will we do then?"

He did not look up from his computer. "I have some plans. Now that I at least have one of you, I can finally go through with them."

"What do you mean? You have all of us. I can easily sing to make them change into their Mythic form. You'd need to bring them in one at a time, though. I can't risk the other distracting me."

Raphael actually looked up from his computer. "Which one do you want first?"

She pretended to think for a moment. "I'd say Isabel. David could wait, he would never purposely hurt me, but Isabel could care less." She swung her legs over the other side of the desk so she could stand beside Raphael. She knelt in front of him, eyes begging for him to listen. "But you have to understand, my voice, it is very painful for someone else to listen to."

Raphael nodded, bringing his face close to hers. "I know, just listening to your voice now is beautiful and wonderful, but at the same time horrible. It is quite intriguing. I would like to hear you sing."

Siren leaned closer, their faces almost touching. Her eyes were filling with tears, but inwardly she was smiling. The tears were definitely a nice touch. "You can't. I don't want to hurt you."

Raphael stroked her cheek, then nodded. "Okay. I will call for Isabel and make sure no one is within listening distance."

She nodded. "Thank you, sir."

Back in the hospital room, Isabel had just successfully wired all the machines to give whoever touched them a rather fatal shock, but she only did that because she was bored. After she made another receipt into a flat piece of limestone (which tasted suspiciously like lime), her job was done. The door opened, and on of the thickly clad men entered, beckoning to Isabel. "You're wanted in Raphael's office."

So not to look too willing, she kicked and screamed and fought the entire way. Unbeknownst to her captor, as he closed the door and locked it once more, David slipped the flat piece of stone to prevent the latch from sliding into place.

As the man struggled to carry Isabel's wriggling body down the hall (she was like a snake! When one minute he was holding onto her wrist, she slid away as if made of liquid.), he did not see David and John sneaking behind him, keeping to the shadows. They did not worry about anyone else seeing them, because Raven would have made sure Raphael cleared the floor.

Gratefully, the man tossed her in the office, then hurried for the elevator. David and John waited a moment, hidden in the shadows. After a moment of gloating, Raphael exited the room, going for the elevator.

The next problem was fooling the security cameras. Raphael even put them in his own office so he could monitor the actions of anyone coming in or out.

They entered the office, keeping their ears firmly plugged since Raven was singing. Isabel had put small pieces of stone in her ears, so the dazed look she now had was merely an act to fool the camera.

John pointed to the two cameras in the room, one in either front corner. David ran for one while John took care of the other. They would need to angle them so it wouldn't see the desk, but at the same time see enough of the room that no one got suspicious. That was where Oracle's powers came in. While he did indeed have visions of the future as he said, he could also create illusions. Illusions that apparently the cameras would pick up.

Just as David and John moved the cameras, the room suddenly doubled. The exact picture of Siren singing and Isabel listening was copied in the new line of view of the cameras, as the real girls rounded the desk. Both David and John hurried behind them, staying out of the camera views.

"Okay, Isabel," Raven said. She had changed back to human so not to hurt anyone with her voice. Isabel fished the pieces of stone from her ears and took a seat at the computer. "Work your magic."

She smiled savagely, beginning to type. "First password?"

"Lowercase smith, capital S, capital E, capital A, and capital O."

"smithSEABO," Isabel read, questioningly. "What's that stand for?"

"Its an anagram for 'I am the boss.'"

She snorted. "Same old Rafey. Okay, this is all basics. Blah, blah." She typed away with a bored expression on her face. "Oh, you son of a bitch!" she cursed, suddenly.

"What?" David asked.

"He's got me on digital porn!"

Both David and John were keenly interested. "How'd he do that?"

Isabel growled dangerously, and typed away. "Never mind, I deleted it with a little message of warning." She paused a moment, fingers resting on the keys. She seemingly made up her mind, and continued to type. "And a virus next time he opens it up. Okay, what's the next password?"

Raven recalled it from memory. "Capital J, lowercase e-l-l-y. Capital B-E. Lowercase a. Capital N."

"Jellybean? What kind of menacing tyrant uses jellybean as a password. Never mind, oh yes. Here we go. Automated flight systems." She fiddled with the mouse, then swiveled around in her chair. "Three," she held up the corresponding amount of fingers. "Two," she put one down. "One." A black driverless helicopter was suddenly hovering outside the window. "I am a genius. Don't all thank me at once."

David changed into Minotaur, and picked up the most expensive looking statue he could find in the room, and threw it with all his might. The glass shattered on impact, not even standing a chance against Minotaur's strength.

Here came the hard part. Raven had to get each person to the helicopter as a Mythic, without getting chopped apart by the rotating blades. David was first, so he could demonstrate the easiest way to do it for the other two. Raven would prop herself on David's back, almost as if he were giving her a piggy back ride. He then took a running jump for the copter, and Siren stretched her wings as he did so. He grabbed onto the edge with his hands and pulled himself inside.

"Next," Siren said. She repeated the process with John, and finally Isabel. After they were all in, John programmed the helicopter to drive to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

David squirmed in his seat, to look at Raven. She had a saddened look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"I just thought of something. I never got to punch him in the face."

Isabel laughed, recalling the gift she had installed on Raphael's computer. "Don't worry. I've got it covered."

Thirty minutes later, Raphael entered the room, only to see the blistered remains of his office. His eyes darted for the computer. Thank the Lord they left it intact! He sat in the seat and clicked open a program, already planning a comeback.

The computer beeped several times in succession, and the screen suddenly changed. A picture of a Christmas box appeared on the screen. The ribbon untied itself and out popped these words. "You have just opened a virus. You're hard drive is mine."

He clicked several times, going through the basic evasive actions. He thought for a second that he had stopped it before it had harmed his precious files, but another cartoon just came up. Isabel's face popped up, her gray eyes slightly distorted by the poor digital quality. In a thought bubble from her mouth was the phrase, "Cya."

A picture of Raven followed, smiling happily. "Luv ya."

Next came David's picture. "Byez!"

The last, and possible most infuriating cartoon was of those three doing a dance across his screen. With hands that were abnormally large, they waved at him, their middle fingers sticking straight up.

Raphael screamed in rage. A fury appeared at his side and finished the demolition of the room that the other Mythics had started.

Chapter 15- Who here can fly?

John explained to them that they had been held in a high security building in New York City. It was not a far way from their home by air, but it gave each of them time to think.

"What are we going to tell our parents?" Raven shouted over the rotating blades.

Both Isabel and John stiffened slightly, for neither of them had parents. In fact, John had no where to go. It was Isabel who finally replied. "My parents are dead."

"Same," John concurred.

Raven winced. "I'm so sorry." While her own mother and father knew nothing of her duel life, it was nice to go home and still pretend she was slightly normal. She couldn't imagine growing up without them.

Isabel shrugged. "Don't be. It happened years ago." _When I first became a Mythic and turned my parents to stone,_ she added, silently.

John's eyes flitted in Isabel's direction, and he blinked rapidly, as if clearing away tears. He made no reply.

David sensed the tension, and sought to right it. "Well, we could always say we were abducted by aliens and they lent us this helicopter to come back to Earth."

John was the only one who laughed. "Or that evil swamp monsters from the bowels of the earth sucked us up from our houses and spat us back out when they realized we didn't taste good." He said this with his accustomed rapid speed, so it took the others a moment to translate what he was saying.

"Then where'd we get the helicopter?" Raven asked.

He shrugged. "You stole it." He clicked his tongue in a scolding manner. "Bad girl, Raven. You know this state of the art automated copter didn't belong to you."

This finally got a laugh out of everyone, but it was a slightly nervous laugh. It was becoming increasingly clear that they needed to say something to the police who would no doubt question them once they landed.

"What if we told them the truth," Raven suggested.

Isabel twisted around to face the girl, and looked at her as if she had ten heads. "You want to tell the police that we were kidnapped by a Controller who tortured us to make us change into our Mythic forms so he could use us as weapons? What else would you like to tell them? That John here can see the future and if you get me pissed of I'm going to get one of my snakes to bite you."

Raven gave the gorgon a particularly vile look, and said, "What I meant was, we could tell them that we were kidnapped by someone who tortured us to weaken our defenses for when he sold us to his associate."

"Why would he sell us?" David asked. "Why would he kidnap us in the first place?"

Raven struggled to form a plausible explanation. "There's a ton of sickos out there. We just happened to be randomly selected by his associate."

"Which leads us back to the first problem. Why would he want to sell us?" Isabel asked.

She gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't know. You come up with something!"

David sensed an argument brewing, and though he was slightly flabbergasted that these two could still find stuff to fight about after all they had been through, he stopped the impending battle. "Look, we'll just say we don't know. That torture was pretty painful. My body is still aching. We could have just blocked everything out. Post traumatic shock or something."

The group nodded, and decided if they were asked a question they couldn't answer, it would immediately be blamed on shock or amnesia.

John made a sudden choking noise, then gripped the side of his chair with white-knuckled fingers. His eyes were closed, but his brow held a scowl.

"What's wrong with him?" Isabel asked.

Raven made a guess. "I think he's having a vision. It looks like he's in pain."

His head jerked back against the seat, and though it was cushioned, he would no doubt have a lump on the back of his head. Raven, sitting in the back seat with him, did the only thing she knew to help. She brought her lips close to his ear and sang softly, wreathing just enough power in her voice so he would relax. Although David and Isabel could barely hear it above the noise of the helicopter, even they were slightly soothed.

John's eyes snapped open suddenly, and he gave Raven a look of pure gratitude. When he spoke, it held an air of urgency. "Who knows how to land a helicopter?"

"WHAT!"

"In my vision, Raphael messed with the automated controls so the copter would turn around. We have to turn the automated systems off, but I don't know how to land."

Isabel shook her head. "That's impossible. There's no way he's getting passed my virus."

"Are you sure his is the only computer that allows access to the flight systems."

She thought a moment, then shook her head. "Damn it! I hate technology!"

David gave a hopeful look to Isabel. "You've got a lot of weird talents. Tell me you can fly a helicopter."

She shrugged. She was able to rig a copter so it would never get off the ground. Just start pulling random wires. She knew she could crash a helicopter. Just push random buttons till you run out of gas. She most definitely couldn't fly one. "I can crash it. That's about it."

John looked at Raven. "How strong of a flyer are you?"

"Not enough to carry all of you at once."

David looked out the window, and whistled at the drop. "Okay, I might have an idea, but you're not going to like it."

"Tell us!"

David told them. They didn't like it.

Raphael was very grateful that he had a laptop, and that Isabel hadn't found it. This little baby could pull of anything his real computer could, including controlling automated flight systems.

He sat in the demolished remains of his office, leaning against the fury that he had yet to banish. It nudged its head under his arm, and Raphael stroked its beak absently. "Time to come back," he muttered.

Hacking into his own system was child's play. He had taught Isabel everything he knew about computers, but that was back in the day, when they were a team. Sure, he had Controlled her without telling her, but its not like she didn't come off for the better. She was able to chose her own adoptive parents at the agency by hacking into their computers and changing their records. He taught her that! And this is how she thanks him! Running away.

He made a mental note to install more encryptions into his computers. It was too easy to get into. In a moment he had control of their helicopter.

Not resisting the urge to show his dominance, he first gave the flying device a good shake that would probably send them out the door if they weren't buckled in. A 3-D version of the helicopter appeared on his screen, showing him exactly what he was doing to their getaway vehicle. This would be fun!

He frowned suddenly when he realized how low the helicopter was. He clicked a few buttons to bring it up at proper altitude, but it kept falling at a very steady rate. What was going on?

Medusa peaked her head out the door of the helicopter and turned another of the tail blades to stone. Her snakes were not particularly happy about being whipped around by the rushing air, and made sure everyone knew it.

"Medusa! You want to watch those snakes of yours!" David yelled, leaning away from the reach of the vibrant colored creatures.

Not even replying, she stuck her hand amongst them and gave the snake who had tried to bite David a hard pinch. It tried to bite her, but she silently reminded it that their poison did not effect her. "Okay, we're going down."

"No chances. Make us heavier," John said. He did not want to go back to Raphael after he had just turned traitor.

Medusa's gray eyes flashed at him, but she made no reply. She stuck her head out once more and turned their landing rudders into heavy granite, even though she found the taste of it particularly displeasing.

The helicopter tried to gain height, no doubt from Raphael's interjections, but by now, the copter was so heavy there was no way they would get airborne again.

Medusa changed back to human and gripped David's hand. "Impact in three, two, one-"

Raven squeezed her eyes shut, and John shamelessly clutched her arm, gritting his teeth for impact. There was an ear-splitting crash as they hit the ground, but none of them remembered pain, for they were knocked around so violently, each hit their head hard enough to lose consciousness.

Isabel was the first to wake up, and she found herself in a hospital, laying on a bed with her arm elevated and wrapped in a cast. With her other hand (the one that was wrapped in white bandaging to cover the burns from the fury), she touched the aching spot on the side of her head. She felt stitches beneath her fingers and groaned. "I need an aspirin."

She turned her head to get her bearings, and found that there were three other beds in the room, each containing one of her friends. They looked no better than she felt, and from a glance, each of them seemed to be graced with a broken bone.

A white-coated man that she assumed was a doctor entered the room. "Morning, glory," he said in a pleasant, slightly accented voice. He looked to be Indian. "My name is Dr. Sha. And you are lucky to be alive."

Isabel smiled, then winced as it caused her bruised face to stretch. "You don't know the half of it."

"Do I dare ask what four teenagers where doing in a helicopter half made of rock?" he asked, beginning to methodically check her different bruised appendages.

"You could, but I'm not going to tell you."

"What is you name?"

"Isabel Noctrice. That's Raven Voight with the red hair, and the taller guy is David Connor. The shorter one is John Li. I'm going to ask this again. Can I _please _have an aspirin."

"No, you cannot," Dr. Sha replied in his accented English. "You're blood has extremely high levels of toxins in it. I cannot give you anymore drugs."

_Anymore? _"What! You think I'm an addict. I've never even touched a cigarette!" That was the honest truth. Her taste was so sensitive that it was like lighting a fire on her tongue.

"Then please explain how your blood test ended positive."

"Check the police records. We were kidnapped! Oh, well I don't think John was, but he helped us get out. You should probably call our parents. They're probably worried sick about us." Dr. Sha left the room to do just that, and perhaps call the police to inquire about three missing people.

"Raven! Hey, Raven! Wake up!" If she could get Raven to wake up, the turkey could use her big mouth to wake up the other two. Isabel gave a shrill whistle, which seemed to pierce the other girl's unconscious state.

She groaned. "Oh, pain! I think my leg is broken. Someone get me a morphine drip!"

Isabel laughed, knowing exactly how she was feeling. "No such luck. The doctor thinks we're addicts cause of the high level of toxin in our blood. He won't even give us an aspirin."

She made a face at the ceiling, recalling that it was Raphael who had put Lord knows what kind of chemicals into her body and was now preventing her from getting a Tylenol. "Did you tell them we were kidnapped?"

"Yeah, but I still don't know what to say about the helicopter."

"Forget it. We're lost and confused and completely traumatized. We had no idea that it was half made of stone. The guys up yet?"

"Nope."

Raven gave a loud shriek that made Isabel wish her hand wasn't suspended in the air so she could clamp it over her ears. Both David and John jumped, then groaned in unison at their sore muscles. John was probably the best off, for he had no broken bones, and only a few minor scratches.

Isabel quickly filled them in one what was happening, and just in time, for Dr. Sha entered the room once more. "You're parents are on their way, now. The police will want to get your statements, also." He left before they could reply.

There was silence from the Mythics for a moment, until Raven finally said, "What do we do, now? Raphael will try to get us again. There is no running away from him." The morbidity of their situation was finally sinking in, and they were beginning to have a greater respect for Isabel, who had stayed out of the enemy's grasp for so long.

"We'll have to run away. He's just going to keep trying to find us," John said, a slight edge of fear in his voice. If they were to be caught again, he doubted that Raphael would be particularly kind upon his return.

David shook his head. "No way. I'm not running from that twerp. There is no way."

Isabel turned her head as best she could on the bed, to face him. "David, there is nothing we can do. He knows where we live. He'll just come again, and this time make sure we have no home to go back to. John is right. We have to run."

"Run? I can't even walk," Raven said, gesturing to her plaster covered leg in an attempt for humor. No one even cracked a smile. "Come on! I know I'm not that funny, but the least you could do is laugh to be polite!" Still, not a single giggle. Their immediate euphoria of besting Raphael was quickly dissipating, and the truth of the matter was becoming ever more clear. No where was safe.

For an hour, they remained silent, lost in their own thoughts of confusion. Dr. Sha came and went, along with several detectives investigating their kidnap. The phrase, "I don't remember" was used so often, it became one, slurred word. "Idonremeber"

It pained David and Raven to say this to their parents, but what else would they have told them? Isabel's adoptive parents were also worried, but she didn't seem to care what they thought. Nobody came for John, but Raven's family insisted he stay with them until they figured out what to do. It was the least they could do after he had helped their daughter.

So, with Raven hobbling out on crutches, Isabel cradling a broken arm to her chest, and David trying to walk with the vise-like brace around his knee (a torn ligament had made the joint inflames and swollen, and quite painful to walk on), they left the hospital, each ready to go home, and each knowing they would not be able to stay long.


	15. Ch 15 Who here can fly?

Chapter 15- Who here can fly?

A.T.: You didnt think it was over did u? No rly, this is officially the half way point. You guys, I'm asking you to be painfully honest with me. I just got an offer to publish one of my other novels (DF which, if u have been checking on my stats through the reviews, is my vampire story). Dont think your being mean, cus it would be mean not to tell me. if you dont think ther's anything wrong, YOUR LYING! evry1 always has something to say, something they dont think is right. Wynnefred Blaire, you have hit one of my weaknesses. i have a habot of stringing to many action scenes together and start to 'lose' the characters in the process. i'll keep that in mind during revisions. evry1 else, read my other story too! i'l prolly post DF soon, under 'in the forests of the night' (long stretch. rly has no relation, for those who havent read the book)

John explained to them that they had been held in a high security building in New York City. It was not a far way from their home by air, but it gave each of them time to think.

"What are we going to tell our parents?" Raven shouted over the rotating blades.

Both Isabel and John stiffened slightly, for neither of them had parents. In fact, John had no where to go. It was Isabel who finally replied. "My parents are dead."

"Same," John concurred.

Raven winced. "I'm so sorry." While her own mother and father knew nothing of her duel life, it was nice to go home and still pretend she was slightly normal. She couldn't imagine growing up without them.

Isabel shrugged. "Don't be. It happened years ago." _When I first became a Mythic and turned my parents to stone,_ she added, silently.

John's eyes flitted in Isabel's direction, and he blinked rapidly, as if clearing away tears. He made no reply.

David sensed the tension, and sought to right it. "Well, we could always say we were abducted by aliens and they lent us this helicopter to come back to Earth."

John was the only one who laughed. "Or that evil swamp monsters from the bowels of the earth sucked us up from our houses and spat us back out when they realized we didn't taste good." He said this with his accustomed rapid speed, so it took the others a moment to translate what he was saying.

"Then where'd we get the helicopter?" Raven asked.

He shrugged. "You stole it." He clicked his tongue in a scolding manner. "Bad girl, Raven. You know this state of the art automated copter didn't belong to you."

This finally got a laugh out of everyone, but it was a slightly nervous laugh. It was becoming increasingly clear that they needed to say something to the police who would no doubt question them once they landed.

"What if we told them the truth," Raven suggested.

Isabel twisted around to face the girl, and looked at her as if she had ten heads. "You want to tell the police that we were kidnapped by a Controller who tortured us to make us change into our Mythic forms so he could use us as weapons? What else would you like to tell them? That John here can see the future and if you get me pissed of I'm going to get one of my snakes to bite you."

Raven gave the gorgon a particularly vile look, and said, "What I meant was, we could tell them that we were kidnapped by someone who tortured us to weaken our defenses for when he sold us to his associate."

"Why would he sell us?" David asked. "Why would he kidnap us in the first place?"

Raven struggled to form a plausible explanation. "There's a ton of sickos out there. We just happened to be randomly selected by his associate."

"Which leads us back to the first problem. Why would he want to sell us?" Isabel asked.

She gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't know. You come up with something!"

David sensed an argument brewing, and though he was slightly flabbergasted that these two could still find stuff to fight about after all they had been through, he stopped the impending battle. "Look, we'll just say we don't know. That torture was pretty painful. My body is still aching. We could have just blocked everything out. Post traumatic shock or something."

The group nodded, and decided if they were asked a question they couldn't answer, it would immediately be blamed on shock or amnesia.

John made a sudden choking noise, then gripped the side of his chair with white-knuckled fingers. His eyes were closed, but his brow held a scowl.

"What's wrong with him?" Isabel asked.

Raven made a guess. "I think he's having a vision. It looks like he's in pain."

His head jerked back against the seat, and though it was cushioned, he would no doubt have a lump on the back of his head. Raven, sitting in the back seat with him, did the only thing she knew to help. She brought her lips close to his ear and sang softly, wreathing just enough power in her voice so he would relax. Although David and Isabel could barely hear it above the noise of the helicopter, even they were slightly soothed.

John's eyes snapped open suddenly, and he gave Raven a look of pure gratitude. When he spoke, it held an air of urgency. "Who knows how to land a helicopter?"

"WHAT!"

"In my vision, Raphael messed with the automated controls so the copter would turn around. We have to turn the automated systems off, but I don't know how to land."

Isabel shook her head. "That's impossible. There's no way he's getting passed my virus."

"Are you sure his is the only computer that allows access to the flight systems."

She thought a moment, then shook her head. "Damn it! I hate technology!"

David gave a hopeful look to Isabel. "You've got a lot of weird talents. Tell me you can fly a helicopter."

She shrugged. She was able to rig a copter so it would never get off the ground. Just start pulling random wires. She knew she could crash a helicopter. Just push random buttons till you run out of gas. She most definitely couldn't fly one. "I can crash it. That's about it."

John looked at Raven. "How strong of a flyer are you?"

"Not enough to carry all of you at once."

David looked out the window, and whistled at the drop. "Okay, I might have an idea, but you're not going to like it."

"Tell us!"

David told them. They didn't like it.

Raphael was very grateful that he had a laptop, and that Isabel hadn't found it. This little baby could pull of anything his real computer could, including controlling automated flight systems.

He sat in the demolished remains of his office, leaning against the fury that he had yet to banish. It nudged its head under his arm, and Raphael stroked its beak absently. "Time to come back," he muttered.

Hacking into his own system was child's play. He had taught Isabel everything he knew about computers, but that was back in the day, when they were a team. Sure, he had Controlled her without telling her, but its not like she didn't come off for the better. She was able to chose her own adoptive parents at the agency by hacking into their computers and changing their records. He taught her that! And this is how she thanks him! Running away.

He made a mental note to install more encryptions into his computers. It was too easy to get into. In a moment he had control of their helicopter.

Not resisting the urge to show his dominance, he first gave the flying device a good shake that would probably send them out the door if they weren't buckled in. A 3-D version of the helicopter appeared on his screen, showing him exactly what he was doing to their getaway vehicle. This would be fun!

He frowned suddenly when he realized how low the helicopter was. He clicked a few buttons to bring it up at proper altitude, but it kept falling at a very steady rate. What was going on?

Medusa peaked her head out the door of the helicopter and turned another of the tail blades to stone. Her snakes were not particularly happy about being whipped around by the rushing air, and made sure everyone knew it.

"Medusa! You want to watch those snakes of yours!" David yelled, leaning away from the reach of the vibrant colored creatures.

Not even replying, she stuck her hand amongst them and gave the snake who had tried to bite David a hard pinch. It tried to bite her, but she silently reminded it that their poison did not effect her. "Okay, we're going down."

"No chances. Make us heavier," John said. He did not want to go back to Raphael after he had just turned traitor.

Medusa's gray eyes flashed at him, but she made no reply. She stuck her head out once more and turned their landing rudders into heavy granite, even though she found the taste of it particularly displeasing.

The helicopter tried to gain height, no doubt from Raphael's interjections, but by now, the copter was so heavy there was no way they would get airborne again.

Medusa changed back to human and gripped David's hand. "Impact in three, two, one-"

Raven squeezed her eyes shut, and John shamelessly clutched her arm, gritting his teeth for impact. There was an ear-splitting crash as they hit the ground, but none of them remembered pain, for they were knocked around so violently, each hit their head hard enough to lose consciousness.

Isabel was the first to wake up, and she found herself in a hospital, laying on a bed with her arm elevated and wrapped in a cast. With her other hand (the one that was wrapped in white bandaging to cover the burns from the fury), she touched the aching spot on the side of her head. She felt stitches beneath her fingers and groaned. "I need an aspirin."

She turned her head to get her bearings, and found that there were three other beds in the room, each containing one of her friends. They looked no better than she felt, and from a glance, each of them seemed to be graced with a broken bone.

A white-coated man that she assumed was a doctor entered the room. "Morning, glory," he said in a pleasant, slightly accented voice. He looked to be Indian. "My name is Dr. Sha. And you are lucky to be alive."

Isabel smiled, then winced as it caused her bruised face to stretch. "You don't know the half of it."

"Do I dare ask what four teenagers where doing in a helicopter half made of rock?" he asked, beginning to methodically check her different bruised appendages.

"You could, but I'm not going to tell you."

"What is you name?"

"Isabel Noctrice. That's Raven Voight with the red hair, and the taller guy is David Connor. The shorter one is John Li. I'm going to ask this again. Can I _please _have an aspirin."

"No, you cannot," Dr. Sha replied in his accented English. "You're blood has extremely high levels of toxins in it. I cannot give you anymore drugs."

_Anymore? _"What! You think I'm an addict. I've never even touched a cigarette!" That was the honest truth. Her taste was so sensitive that it was like lighting a fire on her tongue.

"Then please explain how your blood test ended positive."

"Check the police records. We were kidnapped! Oh, well I don't think John was, but he helped us get out. You should probably call our parents. They're probably worried sick about us." Dr. Sha left the room to do just that, and perhaps call the police to inquire about three missing people.

"Raven! Hey, Raven! Wake up!" If she could get Raven to wake up, the turkey could use her big mouth to wake up the other two. Isabel gave a shrill whistle, which seemed to pierce the other girl's unconscious state.

She groaned. "Oh, pain! I think my leg is broken. Someone get me a morphine drip!"

Isabel laughed, knowing exactly how she was feeling. "No such luck. The doctor thinks we're addicts cause of the high level of toxin in our blood. He won't even give us an aspirin."

She made a face at the ceiling, recalling that it was Raphael who had put Lord knows what kind of chemicals into her body and was now preventing her from getting a Tylenol. "Did you tell them we were kidnapped?"

"Yeah, but I still don't know what to say about the helicopter."

"Forget it. We're lost and confused and completely traumatized. We had no idea that it was half made of stone. The guys up yet?"

"Nope."

Raven gave a loud shriek that made Isabel wish her hand wasn't suspended in the air so she could clamp it over her ears. Both David and John jumped, then groaned in unison at their sore muscles. John was probably the best off, for he had no broken bones, and only a few minor scratches.

Isabel quickly filled them in one what was happening, and just in time, for Dr. Sha entered the room once more. "You're parents are on their way, now. The police will want to get your statements, also." He left before they could reply.

There was silence from the Mythics for a moment, until Raven finally said, "What do we do, now? Raphael will try to get us again. There is no running away from him." The morbidity of their situation was finally sinking in, and they were beginning to have a greater respect for Isabel, who had stayed out of the enemy's grasp for so long.

"We'll have to run away. He's just going to keep trying to find us," John said, a slight edge of fear in his voice. If they were to be caught again, he doubted that Raphael would be particularly kind upon his return.

David shook his head. "No way. I'm not running from that twerp. There is no way."

Isabel turned her head as best she could on the bed, to face him. "David, there is nothing we can do. He knows where we live. He'll just come again, and this time make sure we have no home to go back to. John is right. We have to run."

"Run? I can't even walk," Raven said, gesturing to her plaster covered leg in an attempt for humor. No one even cracked a smile. "Come on! I know I'm not that funny, but the least you could do is laugh to be polite!" Still, not a single giggle. Their immediate euphoria of besting Raphael was quickly dissipating, and the truth of the matter was becoming ever more clear. No where was safe.

For an hour, they remained silent, lost in their own thoughts of confusion. Dr. Sha came and went, along with several detectives investigating their kidnap. The phrase, "I don't remember" was used so often, it became one, slurred word. "Idonremeber"

It pained David and Raven to say this to their parents, but what else would they have told them? Isabel's adoptive parents were also worried, but she didn't seem to care what they thought. Nobody came for John, but Raven's family insisted he stay with them until they figured out what to do. It was the least they could do after he had helped their daughter.

So, with Raven hobbling out on crutches, Isabel cradling a broken arm to her chest, and David trying to walk with the vise-like brace around his knee (a torn ligament had made the joint inflames and swollen, and quite painful to walk on), they left the hospital, each ready to go home, and each knowing they would not be able to stay long.

A.T.: So now you know why its not over yet. greed doesnt stop. feel free to email me, guys, to bounce of story ideas, check to see of i'm alive (hw hw hw hw hw! its all i do!), interogate me on my character origins, if you want helpo with yur own stories, or if u wanna practice typing the alphabet a thousand times. i just like getting mail. it gives me an excuse not to do homework. lol. anywho...i rly want a lead in our next ballet. evil queen, baby! bad guy all the way!


	16. ch 16 healing

Chapter 16- Healing

A.T.: you guys are disapointing me! i want more reviews! more more more more! lol. jk. come on, there has to be _something_ to comment about. i'm going nuts revising these (publishing offer...FINALLY! YAYY! its not for this one, but for Dark Flame which i will be posting soon- under 'in the forests of the night' tho it posseses absolutley no correlation lol) i'm also going to take yur guys's advice and put page breaks from now on (they have an extra space on microsoft word, but it goes away once i upload onto document manager) SealedNectar, Wynnefred Blaire, Em,Kissmisskris... and any1 else who has been reviewin (lol. coco and nate!) thanks a lot, but u have to be mean from now on. horribley, unbearabley, mean! i dont care if u dont mean it. (wink wink, charlie hazel.) there is always something there that you dont like... pick it apart and destroy it!!!!

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"I'm nervous," Isabel stated, pushing back from her computer with an ace bandaged hand. She had gone through several weeks of physical therapy, and had almost lost the remaining rag feeling from lack of use. Her hand was still a little clumsy, though, meaning her typing (and likewise hacking) time was greatly lengthened. "Raphael hasn't done anything. It's almost as if he knows we were all too injured to try a comeback, and he wanted us in our prime." She glanced over Raven's shoulder, who had a binder on her lap. "That proof is wrong, by the way. Triangle ABC is congruent to triangle DEF."

Raven glanced down at her homework, irked that after struggling through it for the last hour, Isabel had chosen now to mention the blunder. "That makes no sense. Why would Raphael wait. You're virus must have set him back further than we originally thought."

John shook his head from his position on the floor. "Look I've worked with Raphael-"

"So have I," Isabel interjected.

"And I know that one virus, no matter how good, isn't going to stop him for long," he continued, unabashed. "He'd trash all his computers and buy new ones if he had too. Plus, he has other technology systems, the cell phone for example."

David stood up so suddenly, his barely healed knee screamed in protest. "I can't do this! I'm not going to sit around like a mouse and wait for Raphael to trigger the trap. How long has it been?"

"Four weeks," John said. "Three days, seventeen hours and fifty six minutes." He threw his hands up at their disbelieving look. "Don't look at me. You are the ones thinking it."

David, deciding not to pursue that particular line of thought, continued on his rant. "For four weeks we've been looking over our shoulder at school, you two won't even go to dance anymore because of the mirrors, and I have run out of sketch pads to draw Raphael's torture. We have to do something!"

Isabel laid her scarred hand gently on his shoulder. "What do you want to do?" Her voice was softened from its original hard clip. "We don't have any of his resources. And though I hate as much as you do to simply wait and hide, he is much more powerful than we are."

"We beat him once," David said, softly.

Isabel wished she could say something that would ease his troubled mind, but all she had was the truth, and sometimes the truth wasn't worth hearing. "He underestimated our skills. He will not make the same mistake twice."

David was saved the torture of answering but I sudden intake of breath from John. He had willingly described the sensation that occurred as he was gripped by a vision, explaining the pain without a touch of self-pity, but with the calm voice of someone who has dealt with such a burden long enough for it to become second nature. He did admit to Raven's voice easing the blinding white pain that would pierce his head, and so it was the least she could do to sing softly in his ear until his Sight passed.

When he blinked his eyes rapidly, he stared in horror at Raven. "We have to go! Quickly! Can you fly?"

Raven noticed that he seemed to be only talking to her, and this scared her. Although they had been acquainted for a brief amount of time, she knew that he would never simply address a singular person unless the urgency was intensely great. She did not waste time in asking questions. "My leg is still weak, but I only need to use it to land. If you fly with me, you can take the brunt force of the landing."

"Okay, we need to fly to your house, quickly," he said, ignoring his nausea from the recently passed vision and pushing himself up. "Isabel and David, call the fire department."

Raven's heart froze at these words, but she kept up a brave face. Methodically, she removed her autumn sweater to reveal a tank top underneath, and removed her shoes and socks. This would allow her to change without any hindrances. "Hurry," she muttered, crawling out the window and climbing onto the roof, John following close behind. It was fortunate that it was already dark, so her second form came as easy to her as water pouring into a glass. This is what she lived for, the rightness of scarlet wings and wide eyes. She could see in the pitch darkness as if the world was illuminated by a thousand stadium lights.

John gasped, for while he had seen Siren before, it had been as she was bruised and beaten and on the brink of desperation. Now, as the velvety night plunged around her, her scarlet feathers shone like beacons of fire, her eyes blinking in the soft moonlight. From deep in his hear he felt an intense longing stir, and for a brief moment he forgot his terrifying vision of smoke and flame, completely overcome with an unexplainable desire to simply know this fiery and mysterious girl. To learn everything about her.

"Are you okay," Siren asked softly, keeping her voice quiet incase any power happened to bleed from it.

He nodded, his tongue a shriveled slug in his mouth. Even the slightest whisper of her voice was like a heavenly melody. "You're beautiful."

"Come on. Hold onto my shoulders. You're much lighter than David, so I should be able to fly pretty far." John did as he was bid, gripping her narrow shoulders and feeling the hollow bones just beneath her silky feathers.

Siren pushed off from the roof, unfurling her wings as she did so. After flying David (and even managing Minotaur for short periods) John felt as if he had every right to fly with her. He was so in tuned with the mechanics, leaning when she did, and pulling back at just the right moments. She was going at a fairly quick speed, but John's grip remained only tight enough to hold on. If she had gone this fast with David, his grip would be so tight she would have to yell at him to loosen his hands.

"What did you see?" Siren asked, shouting over the rushing wind.

"Your house. It was on-" he stopped abruptly, and she could sense him turning around and looking behind him. Of all times to gain a fear of heights, this was not one of them. "Fly faster."

"Why? What's wrong now?"

"There is a fury behind us."

Had flying not been so natural for her, she would have dropped from the sky right there. The nightmare of the fury cutting her throat as she darted through the sky had occurred only once, but it was vivid and real enough to lodge a dagger of fear firmly inside of her. John could sense the acrid emotion coming off her, and felt the fear as if it was his own.

"Don't panic now," he said. "It's a far way off still. Fly as fast as you can, but don't lead him to your house."

She pumped her wings harder, not even replying for her throat had constricted with an icy dread. Nightmares were bad enough, but in them, a part of her still knew that she dreamed, that once the terror was finished and her subconscious mind released her, she would wake safe in her bed. If she messed this up, she wouldn't be awakening in her bed. She would not wake up at all.

John was in no way a mind-reader, but he could feel emotions from other people as if they were his own. While Isabel was very cool in her emotions, her thoughts focused from her years on the run, Raven did not exhibit the same control. He was plunged in her own ominous morbidity, and had to fight to stay strong for both of them. "Just relax. Pretend it's a race, and you're winning. Just keep up your head start, and you'll make it to the finish. Calm your heart. Its just me and you, flying, breaking reality and skimming the clouds."

Siren chanced a look behind her, and could clearly see the black creature, its eyes narrowed in malicious content. Perhaps it was because they were both creatures of the sky, or maybe it was because Siren was a Controller herself, but she knew with every fiber of her being what it was going to do. Kill John for his betrayal and cut her throat to prevent her voice. Somehow, she suppressed the icy grasp of fear curdling in her stomach to see with growing clarity what she had to do.

"Hold on," she said to John, and brought her wings closer to her sides, tilting forward in a gut-wrenching dive.

"What are you doing?"

"Dropping you off," she replied. It was impossible for the fury to follow both of them at once, and she had a fairly good idea that the creature would follow her. She landed a little less than gracefully, stumbling on her bad leg a little. Though the cast was off, it was still weak.

He let go of her shoulders, giving her a questioning look. "Where are you going?"

Siren did not reply. She had already pushed herself from the ground and took once more to the air.

John cursed, and broke into run toward Raven's house.

She was already panting for breath, but she called on years of dance training to ease her aching lungs. There was no way she would run. Not anymore. That creature of hell had haunted her in her dreams, confronted her in a locked cell, and was controlled by a twerp with a bad temper. There was no way it would take her this time.

With her strong eyes she could see the creature, but it was still too far away to actually strike her. She had a handful of precious seconds to form a song to kill the advancing fury, and she didn't dare singing something so powerful with anyone besides her target in listening distance. She started to sing, taking steady even breaths between notes to feed her quickly circulating blood. Unlike most of her songs, which were soft and melodic, this held a much sharper edge. It was in no way pleasant to sing, but it beat the alternative of sacrificing her voice for the rest of her life.

The fury continued to close the distance, but the flap of its wings were more desperate, its steely beak parted as if panting in pain. She strengthened her song, trying to make the death of the creature as painless as possible. Just as she was about to lose the power wreathing in her voice, the fury gave a shrill shriek and disappeared as if it never had never been. Siren grinned. So much for nightmares.

She turned and continued the path to her home.

(PAGE BREAK)

David and Isabel rushed out of the house, Isabel yelling into her cell phone as David unlocked his car. He was grateful that she was doing the talking, for it seemed that since the house was not yet on fire, they fire department was tentative in answering the call. He could definitely not command such a confident voice when he knew in a few short moments his best friend's house would be aflame.

"No, I did not start the fire! I'm not going to either. I was tipped off from an anonymous source. Look, just check it out. What's the worst that could happen?"

David gave a sharp intake of breath at the voicing of such an apocalyptic phrase. Saying 'what's the worse that can happen' was like strapping steaks on your legs before running into a wolf pack. He was not a superstitious person, but that single sentence always seemed to be the catalyst for bad times.

Isabel continued to argue with the person until finally, her finishing debate inflicted some action. "I'm Isabel Noctrice, I was kidnapped four weeks, three days, eighteen hours and two minutes ago. I have enemies, my friends have enemies, and now our enemies have decided they have waited long enough. Go to that house, or someone will die." She hung up a moment later, looking extremely pleased with herself.

"Dramatic enough," David asked as he pressed down on the gas peddle.

Isabel didn't comment, but a flashed a smile instead. "Fast enough?"

He realized he was pushing sixty on this small neighborhood road, and slowed down slightly. Only slightly. His heart was clenched in worry at what could happen, what Raphael could do. He knew that Isabel's cool exterior hid a similar feeling of helplessness.

Isabel could taste the smoke before they even the turned onto the street. She choked as it slid across her tongue in a thick disgusting crawl. It was hard to tell just how bad the fire was, though, because she knew her sense of taste was stronger than the average person. She hoped that was the reason for the acridity in her mouth.

"Oh my God," David muttered quietly as they pulled up to Raven's house. One side of it was completely wreathed in orange flame, and the heat was all but unbearable. Thankfully, the fire department had already stopped the brunt force of the fire, but it looked as if the damage had been done.

Both hurried out of the car to talk to the nearest person. "Is everyone out?" David asked.

The firefighter nodded. "We were tipped off before it got really bad. That side of the house will have to be rebuilt, but they were lucky. The damage is minimal."

Raven's parents saw them, and walked over, their faces taunt with worry. "Where's Raven? She was with you, wasn't she? And John? Where is he?"

Isabel did her best to reassure them as David walked around the house to survey the damage. There was a nagging feeling of dread at the pit of his stomach. Raven and John were not here yet. He knew better than anyone just how fast Siren could fly. Something must have gone wrong.

He did not have time to take action on his suspicions for John suddenly appeared from the bushes, panting for breath. David looked around, but could not see Raven. "Where's Raven?"

He was panting from running so hard for so long, but somehow managed to speak. "Fury in the sky. Raphael is near."

David's face lost its remaining color. He gripped John's shoulders in a grip so hard, he winced. "Where is Raven? She was with you. Where is she, now?"

John did not even flinch at the intensity of his voice. His own heart was wrenching out of his chest for allowing himself to let go of Siren's shoulders and to face the fury alone. "I don't know."

David's peaceful nature abandoned him, and at that moment, with every fiber of his being, he wanted to pound John into the floor for endangering his friend. John could feel the malcontent coming off of him, and backed away. "She can take care of herself, you know. The girls' powers are more useful than ours, and you know it. Just because Siren isn't physically strong, doesn't mean she can't protect herself." He chanced a look at Isabel, who was standing confidently a distance away, shouting orders as if she had been born the firefighter. "The same with Medusa," he commented, wryly.

At that moment, Siren chose to make her appearance, landing by the feuding pair with minimal grace due to her exhaustion. The moment her strangely jointed feet hit the ground, her legs collapsed from under her, leaving her small body sprawled across the ground. It was all she could do to remember that people were merely around the house, and change back into her human form.

"Are you okay?" David asked.

She opened her mouth to say yes, but all that came out was a pathetic groan. "No. That was a very long flight."

"What happened to the fury?"

She flicked her hand nonchalantly, a signal that she had taken care of it. "I sang, it listened and fell. It was a good thing John warned me, or I wouldn't have had enough time to sing. What's the news here?"

Isabel walked over to relay the information. "It wasn't as bad as it could have been. The firefighters were able to make it before the fire spread too much. You're living room looks like filet mignon, though." She shrugged, as if it mattered little to her, but Raven knew that the snake was grateful, despite her calm exterior. "At least it didn't get your computer."

Raven held out her hand, and Isabel grasped it to pull her up. "Where'd John go?"

"He went with David back to the front of the house," she replied. She remembered that Raven shouldn't be off of her crutches yet, for the recently healed bone was still weak, and turned a branch into stone to use as a sturdy cane. "Here, use it or I'll break your other leg."

Raven took the cane gratefully, and quickly figured out how to use it without putting to much force on her bad leg. "David's right, you know. We can't keep hiding from him. There's nowhere left."

"I know. I'm just afraid to get caught again."

Raven's pale face hardened as she saw the scorched remains of her home. "We won't be caught. Rafey's going to pay."

A.T.: okay, so there is a little eensy weensy bit of fluff in this chpt... but john li is rly a sweetie, lol. hope u enjoyed it, and remember... be MEAN!!!


	17. ch17 the plan

Chapter 17- The Plan

**A.T. hey guys. sry i haven't updated in a whole three weeks, but i've been soo busy!! to make it up to u, i'm gonna just throw the last three chapters at you, all at once. thats right!! its about finished. this chpt took me a very long time to write, cus i had to sit down and actually outline where evry1 was going to be when. soo annoying! anywho, enjoy!!**

David in no way could take full credit for the making of this plan. If it hadn't been for John's knowledge of the main headquarters and Isabel's skill with a computer, he would never have had the means to pull it off. As it was, in less than a week he had created the ultimate plot to make sure Raphael would never have the means to come after them again.

Of course, they couldn't just spend all of one day, and possible a large portion of the next, in a strange building in New York City when hardly a month ago they had been kidnapped. Living this double life meant that no one, absolutely no one, could know about their secret. Affiliation with Raphael had proved that. It was Raven who had come up with the idea of how to get passed their parents.

It was almost Halloween, and as such their dance school was about to put on their annual Halloween performance, the one that Raven and Isabel would have starred in had they not been beaten and broken. It would be perfectly reasonable to want to see the show, anyway, and then join their friends in the after-show party. And of course, John and David would be coming also, for it would ridiculous not to bring such close friends. The party would run so late, they would just crash at the hosting person's house. If the got home late the next day, they could easily excuse it on sleeping in late. They just had to hope no one would try to call them at the house.

Each stacked with a bag of supplies, they got off the bus, and stepped onto the busy New York sidewalk. "Okay, everyone know what to do?" David asked for possibly the millionth time. His friends gave an exasperated groan. "Sorry, just a little paranoid. Breaking in is a little different then breaking out."

"Its okay," Isabel said, reassuringly. "We've gone over this so many times, it would be impossible for us to screw up. What's the worst that-"

The evil phrase was cut short by David placing a firm hand over her mouth. "Don't say it. You'll jinx us."

She simply rolled her gray eyes and removed his hand from her mouth. "Come on. Let's do this."

(PAGE BREAK)

Raven very much wished she was still wearing shoes on this very dirty sidewalk, but she knew once she changed, they would simply fall off anyway. She wore a white tank top and blue jeans, but had fashioned herself a belt to carry the boots she would want later. John carried the rest of their supplies, slung in a bag over his shoulders. He was dressed as inconspicuously as Raven, minus the lack of shoes. His feet were firmly protected by a new pair of hiking boots, courtesy of Isabel and a decent sized ruby.

John checked to make sure that his ear piece was in working order. The last thing they needed was to get into the building to discover the walkie-talkies didn't work. "This Team Air to Team Ground. How's it going?"

Isabel's voice crackled in their ears. "We're bored. Get going, already."

"Don't forget about the invisibility song," David reminded, his voice just as static filled.

Raven rolled her eyes. "I know, David. Quit worrying and let me do my thing."

"Sorry. Team Ground out."

They were still a few blocks away from the targeted building, but Raven needed a safe place to change and start the song. A dumpster served as a perfect sanctuary. In a moment, Siren looked expectantly at John, who had already plugged his ears with foam. "Let's go," Siren's mouth said, but the sound didn't reach his ears. They had decided that it was too risky to allow John to hear her voice when the possibility of lethal songs would be sung.

He clung to Siren's shoulders, and as she sang the song to make them invisible, she pushed off the ground and took to the skies.

The glass covered building looked like many other skyscrapers. The tourists and business people and street workers walked by it, heedless of the evil that it contained. As they flew higher, they counted the levels. The key was to not go too high or too low. The thirtieth floor was their best bet, and it happened to have an unoccupied window office.

John reached into the bag, still keeping a firm grip on Siren's shoulder with his other hand, and pulled out a mirror. He angled it to the sun, flashing it to where he knew David and Isabel were watching a distance away. Though they wouldn't be able to see them, Raven assured them that the glare of the mirror would be seen, and therefore served as a perfect signal.

After tapping Siren's shoulders to assure her that that part of the plan was cleanly executed, she stopped her song of invisibility and traded it with one of John's illusions. She then let out an ear piercing shriek that caused the window to shatter in an explosion of thick glass. John raised his eyebrows. That was some voice.

They entered the abandoned office, and John created an illusion to replaced the broken window. His eyes darted around the room to locate the camera that he knew was there. It would be foolish to simply destroy it, for then it would alert everyone to their unwanted presence, but it was easy to make another illusion that made it seem as if they were simply not there.

After completing this task, they hurried for the main security room.

(PAGE BREAK)

Isabel allowed David to look for the signal through the binoculars, for she was much to busy trying to hack into Raphael's computer from her laptop. Unfortunately, he had added more encryptions. While she was fairly sure that she could get passed them if she was at one of the computers on the inside, she was having no such luck breaking in from the outside.

David's voice alarmed her once more to the present. "Okay, there was the signal. Time for the fun stuff."

With a savage smile, she closed the computer and stashed it away in her bag. They hailed a taxi and rode it the last handful of blocks to the headquarters. After paying the driver an obscene amount for such a short distance, they stood side by side in front of the entrance, waving at the cameras that they knew were there. "You ready?" David asked, still waving and still smiling.

"I was born ready."

He nodded, ran the short distance to the sets of swinging doors, and with a fist that was protected by thick leather gloves, shoved his knuckles through the glass. It shattered upon impact, being strong enough to withstand a bullet, but nothing when matched with David's strength.

He continued along this pattern, hitting each of the doors, and as he did so Isabel came forward, her gray eyes flashing as she chose her targets. She wanted to make sure Raphael's sole attention was focused on them, giving Team Air enough time to do what was needed. In other words, they were the decoys and their mission was random destruction. They couldn't have gotten two better people for the job.

Seeing the gates that the employees passed to get inside, she opened her mouth and turned it into solid granite. She didn't want to make anything too expensive that would help Raphael later. Her eyes darted around the room as she stepped across the broken glass doors. Any computers she saw were quickly turned to stone, and anyone carrying a gun or shocking device to disrupt David's very effective vandalization soon followed. Since she wasn't in her Mythic form, they would be released from their solid prison in a couple hours.

"Isabel! The elevator!" David yelled as he smashed a marble column with a chair, knocking out an unfortunate worker as he did so.

Isabel turned, seeing the lights above it blink as the elevator came through the shaft. It was a pretty far distance yet, but she knew Raphael and his trusted cavalry would be inside it. She could taste them as if they were made of stone themselves. She turned the elevator doors into over-sized marble. "David, time to go! That won't hold them for long."

He nodded, destroyed one last window, and followed her over the shattered glass to the outside streets. A couple of civilians were watching in a mixture of fear and amusement as the two adolescents bolted for the nearby parking lot.

"What do we do now?" David asked, peeling off his gloves to reveal bleeding hands. "I can't fight anyone. I think my hands are broken."

Isabel's eyes darted around the parking lot, her brain going a at warp-speed for the precious seconds they had to react. It was just like a plan to never go quite right, no matter how ingenious the plot was. She beckoned David through the parking lot, until she found a motorcycle.

"What are you going to do with that? You don't have the keys."

Isabel began pulling wires out of the sides, turning small bits to stone as she did so. "Who said I needed keys. I know how to hotwire a-" The motorcycle revved to life and she gave a triumphant smile. "See?"

He shook his head and pulled the helmets from the side. Conveniently enough, there were two. "Very nice, but I'm driving."

Isabel nodded, stuffed the helmet over her head just as David began experimenting with the handles. "Have you ever rode a motorcycle before?"

"I rode a dirt bike a few times."

Isabel cursed as she saw a handful of armed people coming closer to them. She leaped onto the bike and wrapped her arms around David so she wouldn't fall off. "It's close enough. Go!"

They grit their teeth as they darted through the throng of traffic. Quickly in their pursuit was several sleek black sports cars that seemed to have no predisposition against crashing, smashing, or running over anyone unfortunate enough to get in the way. "David, move away from the civilians!"

"We're in NYC! Everywhere is civilians."

David turned a sharp corner, the momentum all but sending Isabel sprawling to the ground. Ignoring the blaring horns, he continued speeding down the road, this time against the traffic.

"What are you doing!" Isabel screeched, clawing at his arms with her fingers. She would have changed into Medusa to bite him, for in her brain, going against the traffic was nothing short of insanity, but she wasn't sure Raphael was and didn't want to take the chance.

"I have an idea. Trust me." Of course, at this moment he wasn't entirely sure if he trusted himself but he didn't feel that Isabel needed to know that. In his own head it was nuts, but most of his ideas were at this point. "When I say so, let go of me and run to hide."

She wanted to say he was stark raving mad because there was no way she would get off this bike and run across the wide street to leave herself at the mercy of their pursuers. She didn't have a chance because David shouted, "Now!" and just to make sure she followed his directions, pinched the back of her hand hard enough for her to let go.

Isabel hit the ground and rolled, most of the impact absorbed in her shoulder. She made it quickly to the side of the street, but she needn't had worried for their pursuers still thought she was on the bike. Cursing at David's stupidity, she did some quick thinking of her own.

(PAGE BREAK)

David growled, sliding between the traffic as fast as possible. He wished he hadn't made Isabel jump off, but he would rather one of them get caught then both, and as John had said before, the girl's powers were much more useful in these situations.

He chanced a look behind him and saw that Raphael's people were quickly gaining on him. Despite his outward confidence to Isabel, that had been more male bravado to keep her safe then actually having a sure-fire plan. It was a pity, too, because by the looks of it he would be Raphael's first captive.

Then he saw her, waiting at the corner. She was taking a huge risk, standing for all the world to see the green pallor of her skin and the vibrant colored snakes on her head. She opened her mouth, and her silver gray eyes flashed. Every single black car that followed closely in his wake was suddenly turned into thick stone, leaving them screeching on the road with sparks flying as the tried to continue the chase.

David pulled up to the corner where she was standing, and watched as she turned human once more. "Hey, where'd you come from?"

She shrugged and hopped on the bike once more. "Around the block. I just realized I can run pretty fast if something I want is at the end." She glanced back at the stone cars, which were now clogging up the entire street. "Raphael isn't with them. I hope Raven and John are all right."

At just that moment, their ear pieces hissed with static, and Raven's voice sounded. "Okay Isabel, we're in the security room. Tell me what to do."

(PAGE BREAK)

Raven and John had only needed to knock out a few people in their progression to the security room. They stared at the complicated mass of computers, waiting for Isabel to reply. "Nice to hear you're voice," came David's comment. "Everything go alright."

"Almost perfectly," John replied. "Okay, what's this computer going to do?"

"Look, all you have to do is go to the speaker and rewire it," Isabel said, then followed by explaining what wire went with what from memory. "This will make your voice go to our lovely agent's head mics. Got it?"

Raven wasn't nearly as apt as Isabel with wires and gadgets, so she allowed John to do most of the busy work. The finished effect wasn't near as clean as it could have been, but it would serve its purpose just fine.

"Okay," Isabel said. "Now all you have to do is sing."

Raven brought the speaker to her mouth and softly began the song. The deadliest of Raphael's agents would need to be in constant communication with him, and it was just that paranoia would be their undoing. By rewiring the speaker and changing the radio waves, she could communicate with the worst of the agents and make them simply not care that they were in the building.

As Raven sang, John continued Isabel's instructions. "Okay, somewhere on that table is a switch to open the loading doors. We're right by them now, so open up." John flicked the appointed switch. There was silence for a moment, except for Raven's steady singing, then there was another crackle from the headset.

"Damn it, Isabel! What did you do!" David's voice was so loud Raven stopped singing a moment to yell at him. "Sorry."

"What happened?" John asked.

He could almost see Isabel shrug, nonchalantly. "Some workers startled me. I think they're janitors. I'm human, though, so they'll wake up in a couple hours."

John had a very amusing vision of a potbellied man leaning over a box of tools with his grubby shorts sliding down his backside. Of course, he was immortalized in marble. "Nice. Very nice."

Just as Raven finished, David and Isabel entered. "Move over," Isabel said to Raven, pushing up her sleeves as she prepared for the ultimate in her hacking career. "So, Rafey has a few more encryptions. Ha, is that all you got? New passwords, easy. And," she clicked a few more keys. "I'm in. Accessing bank accounts, there are quite a few. Are you sure we can't take a little tiny bit of money?"

"Quite sure," John said. "He'd be able to track a law suit with it."

She grumbled, but continued. By rerouting the origin of the accounts, she could transfer all of the money into anonymous Swiss bank accounts, to be donated at a steady rate to different charities. Her tracks were untraceable, except possibly by someone with access to government computer systems. "Okay, I'm done. Rafey is now penniless. Try paying for all your hot shots now, you miserable piece of rotting scum." Naturally, she didn't stop at simply freezing all of his accounts. She pursued deeper into the computers files, and found something that halter her progress altogether. "Oh my, this isn't good."

David leaned over her shoulder to see what was wrong, but there were so many windows on the screen he wasn't sure what he should be looking at. "What's wrong. If its something stupid, just screw it. Plant the virus and lets go."

Isabel brought up the blueprints of what looked like a strange machine, and read the captions on the side. "This is definitely not stupid, and it is most definitely a bad thing." She could feel her heart clenching in her chest at the beginnings of panic, but she pushed the useless emotion aside. There would be time enough for fear later. "This machine thing is to absorb another Mythic's power and pass it to another. Raphael wants to take our powers for his own."

"Or sell our powers instead of us," Raven suggested, bitterly.

Isabel shook her head. "No, Raphael wants them for himself. Then he'd sell four defenseless humans saying they were Mythics." She probed deeper into the files, then cursed. Fluently. "He's already made it! Its in the lowest basement!"

John's eyes widened. "What are we waiting for, then? Let's get out of here. Plant the virus already."

David shook his head. "No, don't. We have to destroy that machine. If we don't, we'll be screwed for life."

Raven made a face. "Plant the virus, Isabel. Make every single hard drive in this building melt. Then, we'll destroy the machine."

"Midas," John said, suddenly. "It's called Midas."

Isabel couldn't help feeling a strange feeling of dread. She was not one to get nervous or be overcome by fear, but she did believe in what she saw in front of her eyes. It had been fairly easy to get the blueprints of Midas. It was almost as if Raphael wanted them to find it, just so he could be in the perfect position to take their powers. It just seemed too perfect to be coincidence. "What do we do when we find this thing? What if

Raphael is there? What if we can't destroy it? There's so many things that can go wrong!"

David rested his hand on her shoulder, lending her strength just as she had done for him countless times. "Do you want to give up your powers?"

She shook her head. Despite the problems that they caused, she loved being Medusa, loved the taste of stone. Nothing would make her give it up.

"Then don't doubt yourself. Alone, we were strong, but we're not alone anymore. When we're together, we are unbreakable."

Hardly reassured, she nodded all the same. She reached into her bag, sifted around her battered laptop to find a glossy card. "You'll need this, though. Its a pass to work the elevators. I stole it off the janitor."

"After you turned him to stone," Raven muttered, dryly.

She ignored the comment, and planted the virus.


	18. ch 18 midas

Chapter 18- Midas

**A.T. wanna kno why i dont like ppl? (this has absolutley nothing to do with the story btw). its ppl who are narrow minded little insects that cant see the gray long enough to see the whole chunks of life theyre missing. some chick decided i was a new age hitler and a dark witch just bc she saw the way i wrote, sid she didnt like it and i said i didnt care what ppl think. (this isnt any1 from fanfic, btw. some lil sevvie from school. annoying bastard!) now she's all "kat's haunting my dreams and putting evil spells on me" her mom even talks to me and says "u have caused much sorrow and grief in my daughters life." (her life being the entire 48 hours that i knew of her existence). well isnt that just dandy? we're all living in a world of bunnies and clouds arent we? evry1 is scared of the dark bc they fear the unknown. (COMPARED ME TO HITLER! _THE NEERVE!!)_ **

The only thing easier than getting to the basement was perhaps using the elevator to get to the basement. Isabel wasn't the only one beginning to feel unnerved at the sheer simplicity of getting to this machine a destroying it. They knew that once they got there, Raphael would be waiting for them, and they planned to use that to their advantage.

The moment the elevator door opened and the four Mythics entered the lowest basement, they realized that getting to the machine wouldn't be quite as easy as they originally thought. Blocking the way to the door was an intricate weave of narrow red beams. Raven placed a pencil in front of one of the beams, and it was instantly reduced to smoking gray ash. She gave a gulp as she watched the dusty remains float to the floor.

"So, any ideas?" Isabel asked, eyeing the crimson lasers warily.

David took account of the lethal lasers and of the plain gray door it was guarding. Above the door was some kind of keypad, which he assumed could be used to turn off the defense contraption. "Isabel, how flexible are you?"

She gave him a questioning look. "Flexible enough. Why?"

He ignored the question. "Raven, do you think you can fit through those beams?"

She was silent a moment, calculating her own height and width with the slim inches she could see between the deadly red beams. "I think so."

"Okay, Isabel, do you see that keypad right above the door. I know you can't reach it, but if Raven stood on you shoulders or something, she could turn off the lasers."

Isabel didn't bother mentioning the insanity of such an idea. She knew by now that all of David's ideas where insane. There was just no getting around it. Methodically, she handed her bag to John, slipped off her shoes and tied back her hair. She wanted nothing hanging loose enough to hit the beams. Raven followed suit, going into her standard bare feet and tank top that she usually wore when flying.

"You ready," Raven asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"Nope. You?"

"Nope."

"Okay, then. What are we waiting for?" Isabel slipped under the first beam, then turned her body slightly so her back was facing down, allowing her to see where the beams where over her head. All in all, it was tough work. Despite her flexibility, she wasn't used to holding herself at such odd angles for long, and was soon drenched in sweat. Fifteen minutes later, bones aching and back strained, she came to rest right in front of the door, crouched on her knees. "Raven, its your turn."

Raven had noticed that the lasers where slightly less dense near the ceiling. Though it wasn't nearly enough room for her to fly without risking singed wings, she was able to gymnastic her way through the maze of lasers. In another fifteen minutes, she was standing on Isabel's shoulders, wobbling slightly from exhaustion but otherwise unharmed.

"Isabel stand up a little, I can't reach the keys." She groaned but pushed herself higher on her knees. "Thank you." Raven reached up and pressed the button labeled 'disarm' just as Isabel's strength gave out and she was sprawled on the floor.

"Ow! I'm broken!" Isabel screamed, hugging her knees to her chest in an attempt to ease the shooting pain rushing through her back.

Raven shook a wrist that was aching from so many consecutive back flips, but said nothing. She stared at the gray door, feeling sick to her stomach.

"He'll be waiting for us," John said, for once in his life talking at a normal speed. "Everyone knows that, right?"

All nodded except David, who had a funny smile on his lips. "What if he's waiting for the wrong people?"

"What are you talking about?" Isabel screamed, way too sore to actually be nice.

"I have an idea."

"What else is new?" John and Raven said at the same time.

Raphael couldn't help but laugh as the four Mythics entered. David's knuckles were cut up and bloody from punching glass, Isabel and Raven both looked liable to collapse where they stood, and John had the panicked look of one who knew he was about to die. It really was quite amusing. He loved being the boss.

"Welcome, friends," he said, graciously. "I see you couldn't stay away for long. Did you enjoy the lasers?" His eyes flickered a moment, as if he were listening to someone far away. The room was suddenly overrun by enormous black furies. He watched cruelly as the creatures began to threaten the Mythics, waiting for them to stay still long enough for them to get a good chomp from them.

Isabel, her hands still scarred from the last encounter with a fury, glowered with rage. She had no weapons she could use. Her stone glare would only work if she were Medusa, and there was no way she would change. "Raphael, when I get my hands on you..." she growled menacingly.

Raphael laughed out loud at this. "What are you going to do? Kill me? Hit me with a stone glare? I'll just join the list then, the hundreds of people you murdered."

"You made me!" she screamed, and a fury snapped its beak in her direction. Fortunately, a hit from David's bloody fist seemed to make it change its mind of who it wanted to munch on. "You made me kill all those people!"

Raphael was silent a moment, looking into her cold gray eyes. "Not all of them. Do you remember why you came to me in the first place?"

"Shut up!"

"You were lost, you thought you couldn't change back," Raphael continued.

"Be quiet!"

"I helped you! I taught you how to control your powers!"

"No!" Tears began to roll down her cheeks, thick and salty with an unfamiliar taste. The taste of regret and sorrow.

"You killed your parents!"

The other three, very busy with dodging the multitude of beaks and talons clashing in their direction, froze in shock, looking at Isabel for conformation. She didn't need to say anything, for her whole body was shaking with sobs, making enough of an answer. She sank to her knees, the image of defeat, bowing her head in submission.

Raphael smiled, softly. This is what he liked to see. He crossed the remaining distance to the girl, ignoring the attempts of the others to get closer to her. He placed a hand beneath her chin and lifted her head up, looking deeply into her bloodshot eyes. "I can end it for you, forever. Midas doesn't hurt. It ends your pain. Please, just let me do this, to end your sorrow."

David feared that her spirit had been crushed by Raphael's cruel words, but an instant later he revised his judgment. Isabel had spat in his face. Raphael gave a scream of rage, flicked a knife in his hand and slashed it across her face. She yelped in surprise, touching her cheek to feel salty blood drip down her face, but did not lose her defiant glare.

"I tried to be kind," Raphael said, his voice losing its bored drawl to become a hard venomous hiss. "But you insist to be difficult. I'll have your power first!" From his jacket pocket he whipped out a contraption that could have been a gun, if not an extremely slender, brightly colored gun. He pointed it at Isabel and pressed the trigger. Her head threw back in pain, and she could not bite back a scream as what felt like her very soul was being torn from her being. Raphael did not even blink as, barely a second later, she dropped to the floor, unconscious.

He repeated the process three more times for each of the Mythics, pinned to helplessness from his trusty furies. As they slipped into a faint, half of their selves missing, he smiled at the softly glowing contraption in his hand. This was the key to his own absolute power.

He was about to transfer the powers to himself when he felt a sharp pain hit the back of his head. Almost as if someone's very hard fist had just hit him. He dropped Midas, and it clattered to the floor, sprawling a very long distance for the little momentum it had. And then, impossibly, unbelievably, incredibly, it floated into the air, and broke in half. "No! What's going on! What is happening."

The song that he didn't realize he had been listening to suddenly stopped, and Siren appeared in the corner, next to his deceased furies. David was standing behind him, raising a bloody fist at him. And right in front of him was Isabel, smiling savagely and holding the cracked remains of Midas. John was smiling just as wide, his eyes focused on Raphael.

"Did you like my illusion? I thought it was believable, but I was afraid I would be going overboard with Isabel crying."

Isabel, the real Isabel, looked like she was happy enough to float. "You didn't realize that keeping a computer file on me would be stupid. Maybe you simply forgot to tell me all those years ago, but apparently my stone glares didn't reach full potency until months after my thirteenth birthday. So my parents would have woken up, but you didn't tell me that, did you? You forgot."

Raven walked right in front of him, her eyes glaring fire. "You're ruined, Raphael. You have no more money, no more power. As we speak, every single technological item in this building is melting, destroying thousands of your files. You've lost."

Raphael seethed with rage, and another fury appeared at its calling, preparing to take a good bite out of Raven. She changed into Siren so quickly and sang a note so high it dropped instantly. "That was stupid," she said, changing human once more. She wanted to be human for this. She had been waiting so long to do it.

She drew back her fist and punched him square in the nose. "That was for using Isabel." She brought the punch back with sharp knuckles across his cheekbone. "That was for setting Minotaur after me!" She poked her fingers into his eyes. "That was for kidnapping us!" She slapped both hands quickly across his ears. "That was for making me kiss you." Raphael tried to block her hands, but she was surprisingly fast. He cowered, using his arms to protect his face. Unfortunately, the next strike did not come for his face. Raven's knee shot up, hitting him in the groin so hard he crumbled to the floor. "And that was for my own damn fun!"

She turned around, only to be locked in John's arms. "This is for mine," he said, and kissed her.

**A.T. on a final note of extreme and unrelenting annoyance, i'm going to give u all a great laugh (even more laughier than me beinga witch of course - KIDDING!) i'm going to give you a quote from the email i sent her after she said ppl like me scare the hell out of her. its a rly good line btw, and i recommend any1 to use it. **

**"if u ever talk to me again, and that 'talking' doesnt include a very sincere apology (bc u did compare me to hitler. me, a muslim- believer in peace- me, who will fight for anyone even if its not my fight, me! the one who is a big enough person to forgive a person even when she compares me with the singularly most evil man in the entire human history) then u will sorely regret ever inciting my wrath. you think i'm scary now? u have no idea sweet heart. darkness claws deeper than light can ever pentrate, and shadows are my blankets. the night is my cradle, the stars are my candle and if u are afraid of the dark then stay hiding in your dishonest sunlight."**

**now thats what i call scary. ;-)  
**


	19. ch 19 reunited

Chapter 19- Reunited

**A.T. Thats it. sorry guys. this is the last chapter. hope u liked. i'll start putting more attention to my other fanfic now that this is over. (faerie tale, awesome story if i say so myself. lol) **

"Are you sure you want to do this," David asked, draping his arm around Isabel's shoulder. The stood before a plain house that seemed to squat more than stand. The garden was slightly overrun by weeds, and the stairs a tad crooked.

Isabel shook her head. "No, but I have to make sure that I'm right. This is where I used to live, and I don't think my parents would have moved."

"What are you going to do if it is them? Will you leave your adoptive parents? What if its not them? What-"

"Please, David, you're not making this any easier."

Raven took up the argument. "Well, they could be three headed dragon monsters who breath fire and turn you to ash with a glare."

"Or maybe they are evil slime aliens come to earth to use us humans as slaves." John had regained his fast talking speed, and now gave Isabel a paranoid look. "Are you an evil slime monster come to earth to turn humans to slaves?"

Isabel glared at them both. "No, I'm a snake-headed gorgon come to existence to turn pertinent Oracles and Sirens into stone."

"Look, we'll be right there with you," David said. "So there's nothing to be worried about. Even if they are dragons or aliens or whatever those two are rambling about."

She took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go." Together the four walked up the crooked stairs, and Isabel rapped her knuckles against the door. No dragons or aliens answered it.

**A.T. yup, thats the ending. i love leaving the reader with a note of ambiguity. did isabel rly find her parents? if she did, what would she have done? what would they have done? what about her adoptive parents? what about poor john li? well, u guys will just have to use yur imagination cus as far as i'm concered, this bird is COOKED! (lol. i always wanted to say that)**


	20. epilogue

**i decided to add this epilgue for mythics cus it didnt feel quite finished yet. for those o u who want to keep a happy picture of them living on forever in peace... i suggest u dont read this little addition. its cruelly real. **

Epilogue- Mythics

The night was unseasonably warm. Despite the lack of leaves on the trees, the November night seemed to pity the Mythics who still needed to absorb their new revelations. A crackling fire blended with a chorus of chirping crickets and cicadas creating a symphony that challenged Mozart himself.

It was two weeks since they had last seen Raphael. Fourteen days since they had single-handedly destroyed his reign. One hundred and sixty four minutes since they had almost lost their second form.

The four Mythics were tucked into sleeping bags, gazing into the distant sky dreamily. There was no immediate need to speak, for, as far as they were concerned, there had been more than enough talking in the last couple months.

"You know this is the end, right," John Li commented. His companions nodded, for they had been thinking the same thing. With great power came great responsibility, and it was their responsibility not to become a great power.

"Alone we are strong," Raven said, softly, her voice smoothly blending with the musical octave of the warm night.

"Together we are invincible," Isabel answered, giving a wink to the red-headed turkey.

"And an invincible weapon," David continued, scratching his scalp and messing his tousled hair further.

"Shouldn't be together," John finished.

They were silent a moment longer, for speaking the resolution aloud put a note of finality to what they had all been thinking. There was a reason why there was never more than one Mythic at a time. They were not meant to be together, they wreaked too much power for a single person to wield. If they didn't corrupt themselves, then the process of corruption would bleed through some other figure, waiting for their chance for real power.

"So…" Isabel whispered softly. "This is good-bye."

"Yes," David answered, meeting Isabel's cold gray gaze. "Good-bye."

**see what i told you! what a bunch of self-sacrificeing losers! don't look at me. i only write the damn thing. **


End file.
